Jan. 26, 2008
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Stefon Jackson scored 29 points and hit the go-ahead jumper with 5:26 remaining in UTEP's 65-61 victory against Tulsa on Saturday night.
Jackson, who passed four players to move into 15th place on UTEP's all-time scoring list, tallied 24 of his 29 points in the second half.
"I told Stefon at halftime to keep attacking," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "I thought he was attacking in the first half, but they were very physical and he was letting that affect him."
Jackson broke the last of nine ties on a bucket that gave UTEP (12-6, 3-2 Conference USA) a 57-55 lead. A Jackson free throw on the Miners' next possession, followed by a basket from Tavaris Watts pushed the lead to 60-55 with 4:04 remaining.
The Golden Hurricane (9-8, 1-4) pulled within two with 22 seconds left on a four-point play by Rod Earls, who made a 3-pointer and was fouled by Victor Ramalho. Tulsa fouled Jackson immediately on the inbounds play, but Jackson hit both free throws for a 65-61 UTEP lead. Jackson was 13-of-17 from the line.
It was the first loss of the season for Tulsa when leading at halftime and outrebounding its opponent. It came at an opportune time for the Miners, who rebounded nicely from Wednesday's 109-80 loss at UCF.
"We got our identity back," Barbee said. "Our identity is being a tough, tenacious team that sticks together through adversity. The last few days have been extremely difficult on everybody, especially the players."
Jerome Jordan led Tulsa with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and Earls had 15 points and four assists. Earls was 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
Marvin Kilgore had 11 points and seven assists with just one turnover for UTEP.
The Miners received a major contribution from freshman Claude Britten. The 6-11, 285-pound center made 5-of-7 shot attempts in scoring a season-high 10 points.
"How about Claude?" Barbee asked. "It's in him. I've been saying that eventually he was going to help us win some games. Tonight was one of them. He's getting better and better and he wants to get better, which is the key."
The Miners will host Southern Miss on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. MST. The Golden Eagles, winners of 20 games a year ago, climbed to 10-9 overall and 2-3 in C-USA with a 71-53 drubbing of Rice on Saturday in Hattiesburg.
