New-Look UTEP Still Is Running the Show : But SDSU to Test First-Place Miners

For years, man-to-man defense and a disciplined half-court offense were as much a part of University of Texas El Paso basketball as enchiladas and burritos were staples of the Rio Grande Valley cuisine.

Times are changing.

Coach Don Haskins’ perennially successful Miners are playing a 2-3 zone defense and using an up-tempo running offense these days.

A seafood restaurant that looks as if it belongs in Del Mar has become a popular place near campus.

But don’t expect the burrito market to go under. And don’t expect the El Paso basketball team to start losing.

It’s just that change is welcome in El Paso.

And so is the new personality of its most popular team and coach.

“Haskins used to be like Vince Lombardi or Bobby Knight,” said Steve Hill, a writer for Sports Eye magazine and a longtime follower of Miner sports. “He was a dictator out there. You can’t do that now, and he’s smart enough to take suggestions from his assistants and coach with the times.”

Said Haskins: “We have opened up our offense in recent years, and we’re playing more of a transition game this season. When you have the size and can rebound, you can run more on offense.”

The style is working well enough to put UTEP in first place in the Western Athletic Conference with a 10-2 league record, 18-6 overall. The Miners, winners of two consecutive WAC titles, play San Diego State (9-3, 19-5) at 7:30 tonight in a showdown for first place in the Sports Arena.

With four conference games remaining, UTEP has a one-game edge over the Aztecs.

Tonight’s game is the biggest in years for the Aztecs. For the Miners, who return four starters, it’s another key game for a program that is well-entrenched.

UTEP has appeared in five NIT tournaments and seven NCAA tournaments. The Miners are 122-48 in the last six seasons, and under Haskins, they are 437-98 in 24 seasons.

Last season the Miners averaged 11,567 fans at the 12,000-seat Special Events Center. They had a 27-4 record and won the first-ever WAC postseason tournament. They were eliminated by Nevada Las Vegas, 73-60, in the NCAA tournament.

The NCAA game UTEP fans would rather remember was played March 19, 1966.

That’s when the Miners (28-1 that season) shocked the University of Kentucky, 72-65, in the NCAA championship game played in the Cole Field House at College Park, Maryland.

There weren’t too many household names on the Miner team, but the Kentucky team included Los Angeles Laker Coach Pat Riley.

That championship season gave the Miners a national reputation that has become a vital recruiting tool for Haskins. It also established the coach as a master of defensive-oriented, fundamental basketball.

Entering this season, Haskins had the fifth-best winning percentage (.682) for active college basketball coaches. Only Dean Smith of North Carolina, Lefty Driesell of Maryland, Davey Whitney of Alcorn State and Guy Lewis of Houston are ahead of Haskins.

“Ever since his first year here, you got the idea he meant winning,” Hill said.

In the 1961-62 season, Haskins’ first at UTEP, the Miners went 18-6, which was the school’s best basketball record to that point.

“Now,” Hill said, “Haskins has to be the most popular guy in town.

“Winning is the bottom line, but I think fans prefer to see the players move the ball up and down the floor.”

The players definitely do.

“This is a lot more fun than my freshman year when we would pass the ball around 10 to 12 times before being able to shoot it,” senior guard Luster Goodwin said. “Now we have players who can run more, and he (Haskins) has adapted to it.”

He isn’t the only one having more fun. Four-hour practices at UTEP used to be routine, and Miner players weren’t allowed to talk on postgame radio shows. Now, the team practices for about two hours and players can--and do--talk freely on postgame radio shows.

Haskins willingness to compromise has won points with many Miner players, including junior guard Kevin Hamilton from Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles.

“It’s a little more relaxed this year,” Hamilton said. “We can enjoy the game more. Coach has been around a long time, and he’s mellowing out some.”

Mellowing out?

After the Miners beat the Aztecs, 87-81, Jan. 19 in El Paso, Haskins was anything but mellow. Almost a month later, Haskins was still upset over the victory .

“We played a great first half,” Haskins said, “but we didn’t get back on defense in the second half. There were a lot of things that we practice everyday that we didn’t do.”

The Miners’ inconsistent play has made this a tough season for Haskins.

“This really hasn’t been a fun year for me,” Haskins said. “There have been games where we’ve played super and others when we’ve stunk it up.

“I still believe that a team that plays a half-court game will be more consistent,” Haskins said. “That team will make fewer mistakes . . . But I guess you need a little of both.”

Just as it’s nice to have an enchilada for lunch and lobster for dinner.

Aztec Notes

Reserve center Gerald Murray missed Tuesday night’s game against Cal State Long Beach with a bruised hip, but he is expected back in the lineup tonight . . . Center Leonard Allen has 654 career rebounds, which moves him into sixth place on the all-time Aztec list. He is 57 rebounds behind Joel Kramer. . . . Tonight’s game will be broadcast live on KSDO (1130).