GAME NOTES: Following a win by each program on Thursday in the first round of the Wooden Legacy tournament, the Texas-El Paso Miners and Xavier Musketeers will clash head to head Friday in the winner's bracket at Titan Gym.

UTEP enters this contest sporting a perfect 3-0 record on the season after the team downed Princeton, 62-56, in the first leg of the tournament on Thursday. If the Miners win against Xavier, they will advance to the championship game on Sunday.

Xavier is on an absolute tear this season, registering five wins already through the team's first five contests. The Musketeers won against San Diego, 82-71, in the first round of the Wooden Legacy to advance.

UTEP was on fire on both ends of the floor Thursday, holding Princeton to 36.5 percent shooting from the floor while the Miners connected on 45.7 percent of their shots in the contest. Vince Hunter contributed a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the team in each category, while Cedrick Lang also tallied a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. C.J. Cooper was the third and final Miners player to net a double-digit scoring figure with 10 points in the outing.

The sophomore Hunter is already improving on his very impressive freshman campaign, and checks into the contest against Xavier leading his Texas-El Paso squad in both scoring (18.3 ppg) and rebounding (12.7 rpg). Lang is the only other UTEP player to average double-digit scoring this season through three games, netting an even 12.0 ppg with a very respectable 7.7 rpg mark. Julian Washburn dropped his scoring average below the 10-point mark, now netting 9.3 ppg. As a unit, UTEP is scoring 68.0 ppg and giving up just 61.3 ppg this season.

San Diego shot extremely well from the floor in the game against Xavier, but as has been the case all season long, the Musketeers one-upped the opposing squad on the way to the team's fifth win. Xavier connected on 58 percent of its shots against the Toreros, and hit 10-of-20 from 3-point distance. Freshman sensation Trevon Bluiett netted a team-high 17 points, while center Matt Stainbrook nearly missed out on a double-double with 14 points and nine boards. Remy Abell scored 10 points in the win, and James Farr grabbed a team- best 10 rebounds.

Bluiett is absolutely tearing up the college basketball world through his first five games of the 2014-15 season. The freshman forward is netting a team-high 18.0 ppg and is shooting an incredible 64 percent from the floor. Of course, his 64 percent shooting mark is nothing compared to Stainbrook's unheard of 80 percent touch from the floor. The big man takes high-percentage shots and checks in at second on the team in scoring (16.4 ppg) and first in rebounding (7.8 rpg). As a unit, the Musketeers are netting 88.4 ppg, and are allowing just 66.0 ppg to opponents.

Both teams are hot entering this contest, and both haven't lost a clash this season. But Xavier's lineup is simply too strong, led by the freshman Bluiett and the center Stainbrook. UTEP may struggle to keep pace offensively.