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UTEP Miners

UTEP Miners
Evan Gilyard
Michael Reese
69
UTEP UTEP 1-1
96
Winner New Mexico St. NMSU 2-0
UTEP UTEP
1-1
69
Final
96
New Mexico St. NMSU
2-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UTEP UTEP 39 30 69
New Mexico St. NMSU 43 53 96

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

NM State Uses Big Second Half to Down Miners

UTEP at NM State BoxScore
 
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Evan Gilyard scored a team-high 25 points and Kobe Magee added 12, but NM State surged out to a four-point lead heading into the locker room after being down most of the first half. The Aggies (2-0) then took care of business during the second half in front of their home crowd to down the Miners (1-1), 96-69, on Friday night in the Pan American Center.
 
UTEP went up as many as nine points (18-9) to open the contest, while even taking a six-point lead (29-23) near the end of the half. But NM State finished out on a 20-10 run over the final seven minutes to close out the half and take a 43-39 lead.
 
Depth proved to be an advantage for the Aggies, as they outscored UTEP, 53-30, during the big second half. Miners played four guys off the bench, while NM State played seven. NM State's bench outscored UTEP, 52-3.
 
"NM State pulled away and we just kind of stopped guarding them. Our defense kind of let us down towards the end of the first half," first-year UTEP Head Coach Rodney Terry said. "We got off to a great start from an offensive standpoint, but those guys [NM State] made some big shots to close out the first half the right way. At halftime the challenge was, for our young guys, 'how are you going to come out and respond?' We're going to come back and put it on our defense, really come out and try to get a stop. We had to start the half the right way, set our defense and try to get back after it again."
 
The Miners got within six points (51-45) during the second half, but the Aggies used another run (8-0) to pull away.
 
Freshman Efe Odigie registered another double-digit performance after scoring 12 points, while also pulling down nine rebounds for the second straight game to open his UTEP career. Senior Paul Thomas tallied 10 points, while freshman Jordan Lathon chipped in with six and sophomore transfer Gilles Dekoninck connected on a three-point bucket during the first half.
 
Lathon and Magee each tallied seven rebounds to lead the Miners, while Thomas and Odigie each registered five boards.
 
Gilyard produced his first back-to-back 20-point effort in his career after leading the Miners in scoring with 24 points against UT Permian Basin on Nov. 6. Gilyard also drew a pair of charges and dished out a team-high three assists during the contest.
 
"This year's team will need [Gilyard's] scoring," Terry said. "Obviously, he's an older guy who is able to do that and we're allowing him to be able to do that for us. Nigel [Hawkins] will bring some scoring as well for us."
 
Freshman Nigel Hawkins missed his second straight contest with hopes of making his UTEP debut soon.
 
Gilyard and Magee played all 40 minutes, while Magee did it for the second consecutive game to open the season. Walk-on freshmen Jakobe Dill and Garrett Sullivan saw action, while Dekoninck played nine minutes.
 
Up Next
UTEP will play at Pac-12 power Arizona on Wednesday, Nov. 14. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. MT at the McKale Memorial Center. The Miners will play in Tucson for the first time since the 2012-13 season, while facing the Wildcats for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign when the two tangled in the Don Haskins Center. 
 
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