Jan. 9, 2008
Final Stats
UTEP-SMU Box Score (PDF)
UTEP had runs of 11-0 and 10-0 in the first half on the way to a 79-66 victory over SMU in the Conference USA opener for both schools on Wednesday night in the Don Haskins Center.
"It was a good win to start off conference play," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "I was worried about this game. This conference is much improved, and SMU's size and guard play concerned me. I was concerned that we'd have a hangover from last two games [losses to New Mexico and Texas Tech], and we didn't."
The Miners (10-4, 1-0 C-USA) scored the game's first 11 points before watching SMU (6-8, 0-1 C-USA) go on a 13-2 run to tie the game at 13. However, UTEP tallied 10 consecutive points later in the half to turn a 16-15 lead into a 26-15 bulge.
UTEP took its biggest lead of the first half, 32-19, on a jumper by Stefon Jackson with five minutes remaining. Jackson scored 12 of his 27 points in the first half as the Miners built a 38-26 cushion at the midway point.
SMU, which lost to the Miners for the ninth straight time, had 14 turnovers in the first half, leading to 22 points for UTEP.
UTEP twice extended its lead to 19 points in the second half, the last at 66-47 with 9:41 remaining on a pair of free throws by Tavaris Watts. SMU carved into the lead, pulling to within 68-59 with 5:23 to go, but UTEP's Marvin Kilgore scored a layup and Watts hit another free throw to quell the rally.
It was UTEP's fifth straight victory over SMU in El Paso.
The Miners, who improved to 3-0 in Conference USA openers, received 18 points from Randy Culpepper, 14 from Victor Ramalho and 13 from Kilgore. Ramalho had the first double-double of his UTEP career with 10 rebounds, helping the Miners to a 40-30 advantage on the boards.
Jon Killen scored 24 points for SMU, and Bamba Fall chipped in with 13 points and three blocked shots.
Jackson passed Prince Stewart and Terry White to move into 23rd place on UTEP's all-time scoring list with 1,104 points.
UTEP will host Rice in a nationally televised (CSTV) game on Saturday at 2 p.m. MST. The Owls dropped to 3-11 on Wednesday with a 66-47 loss to Marshall at Reliant Arena, the Owls' sixth defeat in seven games.
