UTEP Miners

Final Stats

Marshall 78, UTEP 71 (Box Score) 

Justin Edmonds scored a career-high 20 points and hit five of Marshall's 10 three pointers as the Herd shocked UTEP, 78-71, on Saturday afternoon at the Cam Henderson Center.

The Herd, who came in winless in Conference USA and tied for last place in the league standings with Southern Miss, snapped a nine-game losing streak while tasting victory for only the second time in its last 17 games.

Marshall improved to 5-15 overall, 1-6 in the conference, while UTEP completed a fruitless road trip 12-7 overall and 4-3 in league play. The Miners, winners in 12 of their previous 13 league road games when they left El Paso on Tuesday, were swept on a Conference USA road swing for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

"I'd just like to congratulate Marshall and coach D'Antoni," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "I thought they did a terrific job getting their guys ready after a tough loss Thursday night. They have lost their share. I think it's a real credit to the staff that their kids came out and played with that kind of heart and that kind of spirit. They played harder, they played smarter and they defended better than we did."

It was a true team effort for Marshall, as Ryan Taylor collected a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds and three other starters tallied nine points or more.

Surprise starter JP Kambola held down the middle with 13 points and nine rebounds, while scoring in double figures for the second time this season. Slender freshman guard Aleksa Nikolic scored in double figures for the fourth time with 10 points.

"They had a couple of kids who really played beyond what they have been to this point," Floyd said. "The point guard Nikolic, I thought was outstanding. He made a couple of really big shots, one when we went to the triangle and two. He was 16 percent from the three-point line, we thought that might be a good play and go get Edmonds and [Austin] Loop. And he made us pay. He hit a couple of shots and he also knocked down a big shot late.

"I thought Kambola was terrific and played beyond who he had been all year long. He hurt us on screen and roll, he hurt us with offensive boards, just spirit and energy. I thought he outplayed us. Edmonds was outstanding, absolutely outstanding. He shot it beyond what he had shot it for the season. I think it's a credit to the looks that he got and how they played their offense."

UTEP fell behind 42-39 at the half as the Herd made eight threes in the opening 20 minutes. It marked just the second time in its last 16 C-USA road games that the Miners allowed 40+ points in a half.

Marshall continued to be the aggressor to start the second half, scoring eight of the first 10 points to go up nine (50-41) with 17:27 remaining. It was a 10-point game (60-50) with a little over 12 minutes left when the Miners made their run.

The 16-5 spurt ended with UTEP ahead 66-65 after Omega Harris nailed a three. Harris scored nine of his season-high 18 points during the run.

The Herd regained the lead on a jumper by Nikolic, but Vince Hunter answered with a layup to put the Miners ahead 68-67 at the 5:15 mark.

UTEP faded after that and was outscored 11-3 down the stretch by a team that is still learning how to win. Taylor scored the next eight points for the Herd as it pulled away.

Harris shot 6-for-9 from the field, 2-for-3 from outside and 4-for-4 from the line. The rest of the team was 6-for-15 from the charity stripe as the nightmare at the foul line continues.

"I thought we got a really good performance from Omega Harris," Floyd said. "He was terrific. Matt Willms [12 points] has continued to get better every night out. We had a couple of turnovers we'd like to have back. We have just plummeted at the free throw line here of late. That's no different really than a turnover. It's a lost possession. We'll have to spend some time there and see if we can't improve a little bit."

The Miners had success pounding it inside in the first half, not so much over the final 20 minutes.

"They loaded up in the second half. When we looked out there in the first four minutes of the second half, they had five guys with their feet in the lane," Floyd said. "It made it more difficult for us to go finish. We wanted to continue to throw it in there and we did. But as you saw, we had some turnovers throwing it out. We had to get it out. And a couple of shots we took were not as good shots, we'd probably like to have a couple of them back. But it's a credit to their adjustment defensively, the fact that they loaded that lane up."

It was a completely unexpected performance from a team that took front-running Western Kentucky down to the wire on Thursday night in Bowling Green before suffering a deflating 71-66 loss in overtime.

"No excuses," Floyd said. "I'm not going to take anything away from what I thought was a great performance by the Herd. I thought they did a hell of a job. Their kids played spirited and they played hard. We had our opportunities and didn't take advantage of them."

The Miners will return home for five of the next seven games, starting on Thursday against a UAB team that is in the hunt for the Conference USA regular season title.