Game Book

EL PASO, Texas – Tae Hardy (14 points), Ze'Rik Onyema (career-high 13 points) and Mario McKinney Jr. (10 points) all hit double figures in scoring and UTEP forced 20 turnovers to help the Miners down I-10 rival NM State, 67-64, in front of a near capacity crowd (11,315) at the Don Haskins Center Saturday evening.
 
UTEP (1-1) led the Aggies (1-1) for 38:39 of the contest, including being up by as many as 13 (58-45) midway through the second half. The Miners also had a big advantage in bench scoring (24-10), with McKinney leading the charge in that department.
 
It marked UTEP's first win in the series since a 65-50 triumph in El Paso on Nov. 12, 2019. Onyema pulled down a career-best seven rebounds to set the tone in that department for the Orange and Blue before fouling out. Calvin Solomon netted seven points and four boards while Otis Frazier III chipped in six points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
"I'm happy for our players because they've worked extremely hard all summer and all fall," UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. "They are really buying into what we are trying to get them to do. I thought we looked really good defensively tonight for the most part. I thought we had a great crowd tonight and a great student turnout. New Mexico State has dominated this series, there's no secret to that. They've got great players, coaches and fanbases, but we got one (tonight). We're excited to get the win.
 
"We held them to four threes, that was our number one key on the board," Golding said. "Then we turned them over 20 times. NM State has kicked our butt. One game doesn't change that, but it sure does feel good tonight. I'm happy for our fans and for our players. We're going to enjoy tonight, I promise you that."
 
The two sides traded scores over the first couple of minutes before UTEP peeled off seven straight points. A hook shot from Onyema and a driving lay-up by Malik Zachery prompted a timeout by the visitors with the Miners up early, 8-5 (15:48, 1H). After getting another stop, Carlos Lemus buried a triple to extend the advantage to six (11-5). The Aggies halted the surge with a triple, but Solomon nailed a shot to prevent any big immediate counterattack.
 
The Orange and Blue were up by five (16-11) before a NM State hit a jumper while there was a foul away from the ball on UTEP. The basket counted, the Aggies maintained possession of the ball, and got another score to make it a one-point affair (16-15, 10:54) midway through the stanza.
 
The Miners eventually extended their lead to as many as seven (28-21, 7:24 1H) as result of consecutive scores from Hardy and McKinney Jr. It remained a seven-point UTEP cushion (35-38, 2:09 1H) late in the half, aided by the Miners holding the Aggies scoreless for a four-minute stretch. After the Aggies cut it to four, Derek Hamilton used a silky-smooth move in the post. Solomon then came up with a steal and Hardy buried the jumper to afford the Miners an eight-point lead (39-31) heading into halftime.
 
Hardy drilled a triple on the opening possession of the second half, giving the Miners their first double-digit margin (42-31) of the contest but NM State countered with back-to-back scores. A couple of minutes later, a slick drive through the paint by McKinney reinstated a double-digit advantage (47-37,15:34 2H) before four straight points for the visitors. A powerful dunk from Kevin Kalu and some hoop and harm for McKinney once again put UTEP up 10 (51-41, 13:34 2H).
 
The Miner lead was 13 (56-43) with 10 minutes remaining in regulation. The Aggies trimmed it to nine before a putback dunk by Onyema brought the near sellout crowd to its feet and made it an 11-point contest (60-49, 7:48 2H). NM State refused to go away, cutting the UTEP lead down to seven (62-55) with a little less than five minutes to play. Jamari Sibley came up with a big offensive rebound and score on the ensuing possession to give the Miners a little breathing room.
 
NM State never truly threatened down the stretch, only inching within a single possession as result of a desperation 3-pointer as time expired.
 
UTEP will continue the homestand against Sul Ross State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on 600 ESPN El Paso and streamed on CUSA.tv. Tickets are available by visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/Tickets or by calling (915) 747-UTEP.
 
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