AUSTIN, Texas – The UTEP men's basketball team put up a good fight before No. 12/12 Texas pulled away late to down the Miners, 72-57, in front of a capacity crowd at the new $375 million Moody Center Monday evening.
 
It was an eight-point contest (52-44) with seven minutes remaining in regulation, but the Longhorns used an 8-0 run to hold off the Orange and Blue's rally. It marked the first time since the 2000-01 season that the Miners (0-1) opened the season on the road.
 
The Miners utilized a balanced approach offensively, with six different players tallying at least five points. Ze'Rik Onyema (career-high 10 points) led the way while Tae Hardy (nine points), Otis Frazier III (nine points), Shamar Givance (eight points), Jamari Sibley (seven points) and Calvin Solomon (seven points) also getting after it.
 
UTEP won the boards (32-27) and enjoyed an advantage on second-chance points (17-4). Sibley led the charge with seven rebounds.
 
Texas compensated for that by shooting 54.8 percent, in addition to going 22-29 at the free-throw line. The Miners finished the game 10-15 at the charity stripe. Tyrese Hunter paced the Longhorns (1-0) with 18 points.
 
UTEP lost transfer Jon Dos Anjos to an injury early in the contest. It was also plagued by foul trouble, with six different Miners collecting at least three fouls.
 
"That's a team (Texas) that is going to be really, really good in March," UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. "We handled some adversity in a hostile environment. I'm proud of our team and how we fought. I like our team with (showing) the physicality and the toughness. It's tough against Texas, but we outrebounded them.
 
"I thought we did a good job of driving to the basket and cutting to the basket, we just couldn't finish at times," Golding said. "I like our physicality and toughness. We had five turnovers in the second half, that's a positive for us moving forward. We faced adversity and had to play guys a lot of minutes due to foul trouble. We didn't break, it was an eight-point game with seven minutes to go. It just didn't go our way."
 
Hardy got the Miners on the board first with a putback two minutes into the contest. The Longhorns countered with five straight points to go up, 5-2, before Solomon halted the mini run with a basket inside.
 
It remained a one-point game (9-8, 10:14 1H) in favor of Texas before the homeside uncorked 11 straight points to grab a double-digit lead (20-8) with 7:31 remaining in the opening frame. Kevin Kalu halted the surge with good work to come up with an offensive board and putback.
 
Texas eventually worked its margin out to 17 (31-14) before six consecutive points by the Orange and Blue made it an 11-point affair (31-20). Hardy started it with back-to-back scores before Onyema converted a lay-up to prompt a timeout by the Longhorns. Texas managed a basket in the final two minutes of action, and UTEP trailed by 13 (33-20) at the half.
 
The two sides traded scores to begin the second stanza, with Texas leading by 16 (41-25) with 15 minutes remaining in regulation. UTEP answered with five consecutive points, using a jump shot from Sibley and a 3-pointer courtesy of Frazier III. After a basket by the Longhorns, Givance buried a triple to whittle the deficit to 10 (45-35, 12:55 2H).
 
A pair of free throws from Sir'jabari Rice moved the margin to 12 before Sibley swished an incredible turnaround 3-pointer to beat the shot clock. The effort brought the Miners within single digits (47-38) for the first time since eight minutes remained in the opening half.
 
With the capacity crowd coming alive, Kalu ripped down an offensive rebound and hammered home a dunk to reduce the deficit to eight (52-44, 7:09 2H). The Longhorns responded with eight consecutive points and the Orange and Blue couldn't get within single figures the rest of the way.
 
UTEP will play host to I-10 rival NM State in its "915 game" at 7 p.m. MT Saturday. The Miners are facing the Aggies in their home opener for the first time in 24 years. UTEP is aspiring to have their first sellout in the Don Haskins Center in six years. 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.
 
Direct link for tickets to the UTEP game versus NM State:  
https://am.ticketmaster.com/utep/ism/MjJNQjExMTI=
 
Direct link for UTEP Basketball single-game tickets:  
https://am.ticketmaster.com/utep/buy?filterType=29
 
Help support UTEP student-athletes by making a gift to the Miner Athletic Club.
 
Visit givingto.utep.edu/mac today!
 
For complete coverage of UTEP men's basketball, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @UTEPMBB (Twitter), @utepmbb (Instagram) and on Facebook @UTEPMensBasketball  or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at www.UTEPMiners.com