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UTEP Miners

UTEP Miners
Boum and Tydus
Ivan Pierre Aguirre
61
UC Irvine UCIMBB 7-6
67
Winner UTEP UTEP 8-1
UC Irvine UCIMBB
7-6
61
Final
67
UTEP UTEP
8-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UC Irvine UCIMBB 30 31 61
UTEP UTEP 30 37 67

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Miners Win! UTEP Defeats UC Irvine, 67-61, to Claim First Haskins Invitational Trophy in Five Years


UTEP 67, UC Irvine 61 Game Book

EL PASO – UTEP's Bryson Williams was named the Most Valuable Player of the 58th Annual WestStar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational, Jordan Lathon earned the Don Haskins Award and Souley Boum was named to the all-tournament team as the trio led UTEP (8-1) to its first title in five years after defeating UC Irvine in a tight, back-and-forth contest, 67-61, on Tuesday night. 
 
The Miners moved to 8-1 on the season, their best start since the 2003-04 season when the team jumped out to a 9-1 start. UTEP forced 22 UCI turnovers that led to 23 points off turnovers while the Miners only turned the ball over a season-low nine times.
 
After scoring 21 points the previous night, Williams led with a game-high 22 points on Tuesday night, while Lathon tallied 13 points and Boum with 11. Williams was instrumental in the paint, drawing multiple fouls and connecting on 11-fo-14 free-throw shots. Williams sank his first 10 free-throw attempts and extended his streak to 27-consecutive before missing a pair at the 5:57 mark. Lathon also tied his career best with six assists on the night, and added five rebounds. Lathon's free-throw shooting was key, as the sophomore went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe, including a 3-for-4 effort in the second half. Boum, who went 3-for-4 from the line, scored 10 of his 11 points in the second half while adding two rebounds, an assist and two steals.
 
"We did a great job of attacking the paint and putting pressure on the basket. When you do those kinds of things, it gives itself an opportunity to go to the foul line," second-year UTEP Head Coach Rodney Terry said. "We got to the line 36 times and we did a pretty good job shooting free throws tonight, making 28 of those. That was a big part of the game."
 
UTEP set season highs in made free throws (28) and free-throw attempts (36) for a 77.8 percent clip. 
 
Daryl Edwards scored eight points with four rebounds, but also made a huge contribution at the free-throw line, going 4-for-4 in a clutch performance with under two minutes to play. Efe Odigie came off the bench with a spark, also scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds.
 
Tydus Verhoeven made his third consecutive start, playing a season-high 27 minutes. The redshirt sophomore chipped in with five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
 
With the game tied at 61, Williams scored three consecutive points to give the Miners a 64-61 lead. Williams nailed his 11th free throw and followed with a layup off Lathon's sixth dime after a missed free-throw shot by Evan Leonard. 
 
UTEP seemed to have the contest in control after taking a 10-point lead (52-42) when Odigie made a midrange jumper at the 11:52 mark in the second half. But the Anteaters chomped their way back, going on a 9-0 run to get within a point (52-51) after a made layup by Eyassu Worku. 
 
The second half started in favor of UCI after the game was tied 30-30 coming out of the locker room. John Edgar Jr. put his squad up 34-30 at the 18:51 mark. But the Miners started a 22-8 run that led the 10-point margin. 
 
UC Irvine opened up the championship contest with a 6-0 lead. However, the Fighting Miners answered with a 15-0 run that started with a Verhoeven made free-throw. He missed the second but Boum gathered the offensive rebound and Edwards converted a layup to get within three points (6-3). 
 
Lathon started fast as he connected on a three-point bucket to tie game at 6-6. Lathon followed with a jumper and two made free throws, filling his first-half stat line with seven points. 
 
Verhoeven was instrumental on the defensive side, tallying a blocked shot and drawing a charge during the run. 
 
UTEP, which hadn't given up many fouls during the season, only tallied 16. The Anteaters only attempted 11 free throws, however, making nine of those (81.8 percent). 
 
The Miners only shot 33.3 percent, while being outrebounded 44-27, but used though defense down the stretch to clinch the victory. UCI shot 42.6 percent, but went cold, shooting 2-for-10 from the field, starting at 5:02 mark when the game was tied 59-59. 
 
"I echo to my guys all year long on being a great defensive team," Terry said. "With defense, you can win games with defense at home and defense traveling. We don't know how we're going to shoot whether we're at home or on the road, but we know that defense travels. We know if we want to be an elite defensive team, we can win every game throughout the course of the year."
 
Worku led UCI with 19 points, while Collin Welp, who came in as the team's leading scorer (14.3 ppg) and leading rebounder was held to nine points and three boards. 
 
UP NEXT
UTEP will travel across the state to take on Houston (6-3, 4-2 at home) on Thursday, Dec. 19 with a 6 p.m. MT tipoff. The Miners and Cougars can be heard on 600 ESPN El Paso with "The Voice of the UTEP Miners" Jon Teicher, while the contest will be streamed on ESPN3. 
 
Following the contest in H-Town, the Miner will take a direct flight to Hawai'i to compete at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. UTEP will open with host team Hawai'i on Dec. 22. 
 
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