Dec. 1, 2009
Final Stats |
Photo gallery by Ivan Pierre Aguirre 
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Randy Culpepper scored eight of his 18 points during a decisive 21-5 run late in the first half that propelled UTEP to a 79-58 victory over New Mexico State on Tuesday in Las Cruces.
It was UTEP's largest margin of victory in 93 meetings between the I-10 rivals in Las Cruces. The previous largest win margin on the Aggies' home floor was 19 points, 70-51, on Feb. 28, 1963. The Miners' previous biggest win at the Pan American Center was 16 points, 75-59, on Jan. 3, 1972.
UTEP continues its best start since the 2000-01 season with a 5-0 record. The Miners won their first six games that year.
"It feels good to go on the road, to go into a hostile environment and get a win," UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. "I thought we played well. We did some good things, especially defensively and rebounding."
UTEP scored the game's first nine points and 11 of the first 13, but NMSU (2-4) chipped away and pulled within two points twice, the last at 17-15 on a tip-in by Bandja Sy off his own miss. But the Miners went on the 21-5 run to extend the lead to 38-20 and were in command the rest of the night.
"The number one key for us was getting off to a fast start," Barbee said. "It gets loud in here when you let their crowd get into the game."
Julyan Stone scored 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting for UTEP, and Christian Polk contributed 11 points and eight rebounds. Six Miners had five rebounds or more as UTEP dominated the backboards, 48-38.
UTEP was sensational defensively, holding a New Mexico State team averaging 79 points per game to a .286 field goal percentage and 3-for-20 performance from three-point range. The Aggies' two stars, Jonathan Gibson and Jahmar Young, each came in averaging over 20 points per game but were held in check. Gibson scored 11 points on 1-for-10 shooting. Young scored 19 but was 4-for-14 from the floor and 1-for-5 from long range with seven of the team's 17 turnovers.
"That is the kind of defensive effort versus a really good team that you need to hang to be special," Barbee said. "We played tonight like we had eight or nine guys (out there)."
The Miners trimmed NMSU's lead in the all-time series to 100-98. The Aggies have a 23-20 edge in meetings between the schools at the Pan American Center.
UTEP is 9-4 in its last 13 road games dating back to last season.
UTEP will host the University of the Southwest on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. All reserved seats are $5. The rematch with NMSU is slated for Sunday, Dec. 13 in the Haskins Center at 7:05.
