UTEP Miners men’s basketball adds Cancun Challenge to schedule

The UTEP men’s basketball team’s Mexican travels picked up another destination, as the Miners are headed to the Cancun Challenge.

The Cancun Challenge, which is Nov. 24-25, is a four-team Thanksgiving tournament where they will play the College of Charleston and either Kennesaw State or Eastern Michigan.

Two weeks later, they conclude the multi-national event at Don Haskins Center when they host North Dakota (not to be confused with new Mountain West member North Dakota State) on Dec. 5. That tip-off time has not been set but likely will be 7 p.m.

The Nov. 24 game against Charleston will tip at 6:30 p.m. MT, while the Nov. 25 game against the Kennesaw/Eastern Michigan winner is TBA.

“The opportunity to play in the Cancun Challenge is a great honor for UTEP basketball and we look forward to being tested against three quality opponents,” UTEP coach Joe Golding said. “Many great teams have played in this MTE (multi-team event) in the past, and we’re excited to add UTEP’s name to the list. It’s another great chance to play on a big college basketball stage early in the season with a brand-new team.” 

UTEP men’s basketball heads to Mexico for exhibition games in August

UTEP also has two exhibitions in Juarez on Aug. 4 against the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez and on Aug. 5 against the Indios pro team. The Miners played an exhibition against the local university in Chihuahua City (UACH).

The Miners still have not received a schedule from the Mountain West Conference (that is expected in the coming weeks) and are waiting until then to release the rest of their 2026-27 schedule, which began last year on Nov. 3.

College of Charleston went 21-11 last year but lost in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament as a No. 2 seed.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP Miners men’s basketball adds Cancun Challenge to schedule