UTEP (8-2, 5-2 D1) at Hawai’i (7-3, 6-3 D1) – approx. 11:30 PM EST (ESPN2)
The last of the major exempt tournaments get underway tonight – the finale of the Diamond Head Classic involves the hometown Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors and the UTEP Miners. Hawai’i has gotten off to a decent start at home with their most notable win coming against San Francisco. Their only losses were against South Dakota in the Rainbow Classic (in November) along with road losses at Illinois and at Oregon. Eddie Stansberry averages close to 20 points a game for Hawai’i.
While UTEP did dabble a bit in the pastry cart back in November, they did get some notable wins at home against both New Mexico and New Mexico State back in November. They also won the Sun Bowl Invitational at home with wins against North Carolina A&T and UC-Irvine, although they did lose at Houston in a nonbracketed game in their most recent outing. Bryson Williams averages 19.6 points a game and 7 rebounds a game for the Miners.