# 2009–10 UTEP Miners men's basketball team

The 2009–10 UTEP Miners men's basketball team represented the University of Texas at El Paso in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was head coach Tony Barbee's fourth season at UTEP. The Miners competed in Conference USA and played their home games at the Don Haskins Center. They finished the season 26–7, 15–1 in CUSA play to win the regular season championship. They advanced to the championship game of the 2010 Conference USA men's basketball tournament before losing to Houston. They received and at–large bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning a 12 seed in the west region, where they would lose to 5 seed and AP #11 Butler in the first round. UTEP averaged 8,697 fans per game, ranking 58th nationally.

## Roster

Source
| # | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Position | Class | Hometown | Previous Team(s) |
| 1 | Arnett Moultrie | 6'11" | 225 | F | So. | Memphis, TN, U.S. | Raleigh-Egypt HS |
| 2 | Tyler Tafoya | 6'3" | 160 | G | Fr. | El Paso, TX, U.S. | El Paso HS |
| 3 | Randy Culpepper | 6'0" | 165 | G | Jr. | Memphis, TN, U.S. | Sheffield HS |
| 4 | Derrick Caracter | 6'8" | 275 | F | Jr. | Fanwood, NJ, U.S. | Notre Dame Prep Louisville |
| 5 | Julyan Stone | 6'6" | 195 | G | Jr. | Goleta, CA, U.S. | Dos Pueblos HS |
| 10 | Yaw Mensa | 6'0" | 170 | G | Fr. | Houston, TX, U.S. | Thurgood Marshall HS |
| 11 | Myron Strong | 6'2" | 185 | G | Jr. | Memphis, TN, U.S. | Hamilton HS Southwest Tennessee CC |
| 13 | Wayne Portalatin | 6'10" | 240 | C | Jr. | Allentown, PA, U.S. | The Patterson School |
| 20 | Isaac Gordon | 6'5" | 210 | G | Jr. | Los Angeles, CA, U.S. | Price HS Mercer |
| 23 | Gabriel McCulley | 6'7" | 225 | G/F | Jr. | Memphis, TN, U.S. | Craigmont HS |
| 31 | Eric Muñoz | 6'7" | 200 | F | Jr. | El Paso, TX, U.S. | Eastwood HS |
| 32 | Claude Britten | 6'11" | 270 | C | Jr. | Baton Rouge, LA, U.S. | Genesis One Christian |
| 34 | Jeremy Williams | 6'7" | 215 | F | Jr. | Memphis, TN, U.S. | Hamilton HS Southwest Tennessee CC |
| 41 | Christian Polk | 6'3" | 200 | G | Jr. | Glendale, AZ, U.S. | Deer Valley HS Arizona State |

## Schedule and results

Source
* All times are Mountain
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/7/2009* 7:05pm | | New Mexico Highlands | W 80–55 | | Don Haskins Center (6,429) El Paso, TX |
| 12/5/2009* 7:05pm | | University of the Southwest | W 91–51 | | Don Haskins Center (6,866) El Paso, TX |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 11/13/2009* 7:05pm | | Texas Southern | W 89–70 | 1–0 | Don Haskins Center (6,825) El Paso, TX |
| 11/18/2009* 7:05pm | | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | W 70–52 | 2–0 | Don Haskins Center (7,105) El Paso, TX |
| 11/21/2009* 7:05pm | | Arkansas State | W 82–56 | 3–0 | Don Haskins Center (6,806) El Paso, TX |
| 11/25/2009* 7:05pm | | North Carolina A&T | W 81–66 | 4–0 | Don Haskins Center (7,631) El Paso, TX |
| 12/1/2009* 7:00pm | | at New Mexico State | W 79–58 | 5–0 | Pan American Center (7,195) Las Cruces, NM |
| 12/13/2009* 7:05pm | | New Mexico State | L 80–87 | 5–1 | Don Haskins Center (10,459) El Paso, TX |
| 12/16/2009* 6:00pm | | vs. No. 20 Mississippi | L 81–91 $^{OT}$ | 5–2 | DeSoto Civic Center (2,171) Southaven, MS |
| 12/19/2009* 1:00pm | | Alcorn State | W 101–41 | 6–2 | Don Haskins Center (5,974) El Paso, TX |
| 12/21/2009* 4:30pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Oklahoma All-College Basketball Classic | W 89–74 | 7–2 | Ford Center (NA) Oklahoma City, OK |
| 12/28/2009* 7:00pm | | Norfolk State Sun Bowl Invitational | W 93–56 | 8–2 | Don Haskins Center (6,212) El Paso, TX |
| 12/29/2009* 7:30pm | | Air Force Sun Bowl Invitational | W 58–47 | 9–2 | Don Haskins Center (8,010) El Paso, TX |
| 1/3/2010* 7:00pm | | at No. 20 Texas Tech | L 78–86 | 9–3 | United Spirit Arena (8,029) Lubbock, TX |
| 1/6/2010 7:05pm | | SMU | W 49–45 | 10–3 (1–0) | Don Haskins Center (6,852) El Paso, TX |
| 1/9/2010* 7:00pm, CBSCS | | No. 25 BYU | L 77–83 | 10–4 | Don Haskins Center (8,687) El Paso, TX |
| 1/13/2010 6:00pm | | at Houston | L 65–75 | 10–5 (1–1) | Hofheinz Pavilion (2,862) Houston, TX |
| 1/16/2010 7:05pm | | Southern Mississippi | W 56–49 | 11–5 (2–1) | Don Haskins Center (6,632) El Paso, TX |
| 1/20/2010 6:00pm, CBSCS | | at Memphis | W 72–67 | 12–5 (3–1) | FedEx Forum (16,709) Memphis, TN |
| 1/23/2010 3:00pm | | at Central Florida | W 96–59 | 13–5 (4–1) | UCF Arena (6,413) Orlando, FL |
| 1/27/2010 7:05pm | | Tulane | W 84–71 | 14–5 (5–1) | Don Haskins Center (7,768) El Paso, TX |
| 1/30/2010 6:00pm, KVIA | | at No. 25 UAB | W 74–65 $^{2OT}$ | 15–5 (6–1) | Bartow Arena (8,533) Birmingham, AL |
| 2/3/2010 7:05pm, CBSCS | | Houston | W 65–58 | 16–5 (7–1) | Don Haskins Center (10,595) El Paso, TX |
| 2/6/2010 7:00pm, ESPN2 | | Tulsa | W 73–59 | 17–5 (8–1) | Don Haskins Center (12,092) El Paso, TX |
| 2/10/2010 6:00pm, MetroSports SW | | at SMU | W 62–51 | 18–5 (9–1) | Moody Coliseum (2,965) Dallas, TX |
| 2/13/2010 7:05pm | | East Carolina | W 100–76 | 19–5 (10–1) | Don Haskins Center (11,794) El Paso, TX |
| 2/20/2010 6:00pm, CBSCS | | at Tulsa | W 78–70 | 20–5 (11–1) | Reynolds Center (5,837) Tulsa, OK |
| 2/24/2010 6:00pm, MetroSports SW | | at Southern Mississippi | W 59–56 | 21–5 (12–1) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,326) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 2/27/2010 7:05pm | | Rice | W 78–64 | 22–5 (13–1) | Don Haskins Center (12,190) El Paso, TX |
| 3/2/2010 5:00pm | No. 24 | at Marshall | W 80–76 | 23–5 (14–1) | Cam Henderson Center (7,894) Huntington, WV |
| 3/6/2010 7:05pm | No. 24 | UAB | W 52–50 | 24–5 (15–1) | Don Haskins Center (12,222) El Paso, TX |
| 2010 Conference USA men's basketball tournament ||||||
| 3/11/10 8:00pm | (1) No. 25 | vs. (9) Central Florida Quarterfinals | W 76–54 | 25–5 | BOK Center (8,130) Tulsa, OK |
| 3/12/10 3:00pm, CBSCS | (1) No. 25 | vs. (5) Tulsa Semifinals | W 75–61 | 26–5 | BOK Center (NA) Tulsa, OK |
| 3/13/10 10:30am, CBS | (1) No. 25 | vs. (7) Houston Final | L 73–81 | 26–6 | BOK Center (8,476) Tulsa, OK |
| 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament ||||||
| 3/18/2010* 2:45pm, CBS | (12 W) | vs. (5 W) No. 11 Butler First round | L 59–77 | 26–7 | HP Pavilion (12,712) San Jose, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||