UTEP Miners to Open 2026-27 Season Against Northern Kentucky

The UTEP Miners will begin their 2026-27 college basketball season on Monday, November 2, 2026, facing the Northern Kentucky Norse. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET tip-off at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and will be streamed on YouTube. UTEP enters the season following a challenging 11-20 campaign and a transition into the Mountain West conference. According to Bleacher Nation, the Miners ranked 323rd nationally in offense last year, averaging 69.3 points per game, while ranking 132nd in defense with 72.4 points allowed. Head coach Joe Golding has focused on improving the team's guard play through the transfer portal. Yahoo Sports reports that UTEP added 6-foot-7 point guard Leif Moeller from Evansville, as well as Reese Miller from William & Mary and veteran lead guard Jace Whiting from Weber State. Other additions include JUCO player Cam McDaniels, who averaged 17 points per game at John A. Logan, and defensive specialist Ryan Jackson Jr. In the frontcourt, the Miners have added transfers Reid Cason from East Carolina and Augusto Cassia from Ole Miss. Northern Kentucky comes into the opener after a 20-14 season, though Yahoo Sports notes they have struggled recently in the Horizon League, finishing outside the top five for three consecutive years. The Norse featured a high-scoring offense last year, ranking 30th in the nation with 83.1 points per game, according to Bleacher Nation. Their lone returning starter is point guard Elijah Elliott. Betting odds from Yahoo Sports list UTEP as a -1.5 point favorite on the spread, with a moneyline of -130. The over/under for the game is set at 147.5 points. --- HOT covers what Americans are searching for most right now. Sources: Yahoo Sports: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/northern-kentucky-vs-utep-prediction-100018023.html; Bleacher Nation: https://www.bleachernation.com/how-to-watch/2026/11/01/how-to-watch-utep-miners-vs-northern-kentucky-norse-live-stream-or-on-tv/. Machine-written by gemma4:31b-cloud from those reports. Fact check against them by gpt-oss:120b-cloud.