Dec. 22, 2014
Final Stats
UTEP 78, Kent State 75 (Box Score) 
Vince Hunter posted 18 points and 16 rebounds to earn MVP honors at the WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational as UTEP topped Kent State, 78-75, for the championship on Monday at the Don Haskins Center.
"We survived against another team that I think will be in the NCAA Tournament," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "They had four road wins coming in. They have been the best program in the MAC over the last 12 years. Their guards can shoot it. Their big guys are tough and can score around the block. They can defend. They are very well coached."
The Miners (8-4) capped the non-conference portion of their schedule with a fourth win in five games. UTEP survived a wild final seven seconds which saw Kent State (8-3) miss three potential game-tying three pointers after trailing by 13 points with under seven minutes remaining.
The first half was entertaining and filled with runs. UTEP had spurts of 8-0 and 12-0, and Kent State had runs of 11-2 and 7-0. At the end of 20 minutes, the Miners led 44-37.
"I just think we moved the ball, we shared the ball, we played inside out," Floyd said of his team's fast start. "We got a couple of good takes and finishes from Vince Hunter. Earvin Morris made a couple of threes early, which really frees us up when he can do that. I thought he played well against his old school and that's not always easy to do."
The Miners took their biggest lead, 65-52, on a layup by Cedrick Lang with 6:51 left.
Down seven (71-64) with under two minutes remaining, the Golden Flashes staged a furious rally. A three-pointer by Derek Jackson cut it to two (71-69) with 1:11 to go. C.J. Cooper responded with a floater in the lane to push it to four. Jimmy Hall hit a jumper to again make it a two-point game (73-71). Cooper answered with two free throws. Hall's layup made it 75-73 with 17 seconds left.
Omega Harris was fouled. He split two free throws. Jackson missed a three that could've tied the game. But Chris Ortiz rebounded his miss, was fouled and sank two free throws to slice the UTEP lead to one (76-75) with six seconds to play.
Harris was sent back to the line. This time he made both free throws. Kent State had two more cracks at it in the final seconds. Kris Brewer missed a three, but Cedrick Lang turned it over on the inbound. Devareaux Manley missed a three pointer from halfcourt as time ran out.
"We didn't finish well tonight," Floyd said. "We missed four free throws and a dunk [by Harris] in the final two minutes. That always makes things look worse. But it wasn't about not functioning other than Omega's turnover. And we didn't guard properly. We've got to get a little better in some areas. We'll do that after the break. Screen and roll coverage suffered against a very good screen and roll offensive team tonight."
Hunter's 16 rebounds tied his career high. The Miners placed four other players in double figure scoring - Lang and Matt Willms (12 each), Morris (11) and Julian Washburn (10).
"Cedrick Lang had solid minutes," Floyd said. "Matt Willms, I just think has grown immensely from the start of the season to where he is now. He is playing better and better. The shots that he's not blocking, he's changing around the basket. He is doing a great job. We are getting good play out of Omega. He'll learn from an error or two that he made late. But he's going to be a terrific, terrific player before he leaves here."
UTEP shot 52.3 percent and outrebounded Kent State by the slimmest of margins (39-37).
Lang joined Hunter on the All-Tournament team. Willms was named the Don Haskins Award winner.
The Miners will take a short holiday break, return to the court for an exhibition versus Sul Ross State on Dec. 30, then tip-off the Conference USA slate at North Texas on Jan. 2.
"We're going to be opening league play with a North Texas team that just beat Creighton, who two and a half weeks ago was ranked in the top-25," Floyd said. "So none of them are easy."
