Dec. 22, 2007
Final Stats
UTEP-Wyoming Box Score (PDF)
Stefon Jackson got his 1,000 points, and UTEP picked up its first State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament championship since 2004 on Saturday night at the Don Haskins Center.
The Miners (8-2) outlasted Wyoming 79-73 behind Jackson, who scored 33 points for his fourth career 30-point game and his third this season. Jackson now has totaled 1,029 points at UTEP. He is the 38th member of the Miners' 1,000-point club, and only the 12th player to achieve the milestone in three seasons or less.
"Stefon is a special player," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "There have been a lot of special players in this program, and his name will be up on the marquee with the best of them before all is said and done."
UTEP has eight wins before Christmas for the first time since 2004, and only the second time since 1988.
"It feels good to win the game," Barbee said. "I told our guys that I'm not looking at the stats, all that matters is 8-2. We've put ourselves in good position. There's no question that we've got to get better, but I don't want them to think about that. I want them to enjoy their break and we'll worry about it when they get back."
Jackson shot 8-for-14 from the field and 17-for-21 from the line, coming within two free throw attempts of tying the school record. He was named tournament MVP. Jackson has now averaged 28.0 points in four career State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament games. He had 33 points against Jackson State in the event a year ago.
Marvin Kilgore joined Jackson on the All-Tournament team after collecting 16 points on Saturday. He and Jackson were the only Miners in double figures, although freshmen Manuel Cass and Randy Culpepper each supplied nine points.
The Miners didn't trail all night, taking a 39-32 lead at the half and extending their advantage to as many as 16 points in the second stanza. The Cowboys (5-5) cut the margin to five points, 73-68, on a layup by Ryan Dermody with 45 seconds left before Jackson and Kilgore iced the game with free throws.
Brad Jones scored 16 points for Wyoming, earning him a spot on the All-Tournament team with USC Upstate's Luke Payne and Buffalo's Sean Smiley.
UTEP last won the Sun Bowl tournament in 2004 by beating Alabama State and Princeton. The Miners finished second at the tournament in 2005 and third a year ago.
The Miners scored 31 points off 22 Wyoming turnovers. UTEP tallied a whopping 71 points off turnovers in tournament wins over USC Upstate and Wyoming.
The Cowboys outrebounded UTEP 39-29. Barbee again pointed to a lack of toughness as being the reason.
"It's an area we've got to shore up, because as we get into conference play toughness is the end all be all," he said. "Hopefully we can find a little bit of toughness over the Christmas break."
UTEP will return to action at Texas Southern on Saturday, Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. MDT. The Miners downed the Tigers in El Paso on Nov. 18, 78-57.
