Game Book In PDF Format

HOUSTON, Texas –UTEP forced two turnovers in the final 30 seconds to help turn an 81-76 deficit into an 82-81 lead with six seconds left, but Rice's Travis Evee made an off-balanced floater at the buzzer to lift the home side past the Miners, 83-82, in a high-flying game inside Tudor Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.
 
The Miners (9-8, 2-4 C-USA) led by six (53-47) with 14:26 remaining in regulation before a 13-0 run allowed the Owls (12-5, 3-3 C-USA) to rip control of the contest (60-53, 10:05 2H). UTEP refused to quit and continued to battle, chipping away at the deficit. It was still down by five (81-76) with 31 seconds left before the Orange and Blue made their move.
 
Mario McKinney Jr. converted on a lay-up to make it a 3-point affair (81-78). UTEP then forced a turnover on the inbounds play with a steal by Tae Hardy, leading to another lay-up from McKinney Jr. to cut the deficit to one. Calvin Solomon then came up with another theft and managed to find Hardy as he was falling out of bounds. Hardy drove and was fouled with six seconds left for the one-and-one attempts. He stepped up and sank both free tosses to put the Miners up by one. Rice inbounded to Evee, who went coast-to-coast and sank the one-footed floater from the left wing as time expired to lift the Owls to the win.
 
Hardy poured in 20 points to go along with a career-high five steals, Shamar Givance recorded his second double-double (16 points, 10 assists) of the year before fouling out late in the contest. McKinney Jr. (14 points) and Solomon (12 points) also reached double figures in scoring.
 
UTEP's 81 points were the most against a DI opponent on the season, which was aided by nailing 50.0 from the floor. The Miners also took care of the ball (12 turnovers), dominated the paint (56-36) and forced 19 giveaways that led to 22 points, but the Owls overcame that by drilling 56.9 percent from the floor. That including going 10-23 (42.9 percent) from distance.  
 
UTEP also won the boards (32-29), marking the seventh straight contest it was even or better on the glass. That is the longest since a nine-game surge in 2009-10. Aiding that effort was 14 offensive rebounds, the seventh consecutive contest with 10+ such caroms. It's the longest streak since an eight-tilt stretch in 2008-09.
 
"We gave ourselves a chance but (Evee) hit a tough shot," UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. "I'm impressed with the hustle play Tae Hardy had and then the one Calvin (Solomon) had right here (by the UTEP bench) to give us a chance. It was just multiple effort plays. The guys fought back and competed, and that's what you like to see as a coach.
 
"There haven't been many nights we haven't guarded," Golding said. "Tonight, we didn't guard the way we're capable of guarding. It's going to be tough for us to win games when we give up 83 points. We are going to continue to lay it on the line and keep competing. I feel for our team, they deserve better. We're going to keep fighting. We've got some tough dudes in there."
 
The two sides traded scores over the first four minutes, with the contest knotted at eight four minutes in. A 6-1 run by UTEP put it up five (14-9, 14:26 1H), with lay-ups by Kevin Kalu, Jon Dos Anjos and McKinney Jr. powering the sequence. The Owls answered with a 10-4 push to take a one-point cushion (19-18, 11:00 1H).
 
The game was all square at 22 with 8:49 left in the opening frame before the Orange and Blue used a 13-3 push to suddenly jump out by 10 (35-25, 4:56 1H). It began with six straight for UTEP, including four from Givance. After a Rice score, the Orange and Blue put together a 7-0 run that was capped by a trey from Hardy.
 
The Owls answered immediately, using an 11-2 surge to trim the Miner margin to one (37-36, 2:48 1H). It included eight in a row for the home side. A driving lay-up on the fastbreak by McKinney Jr. halted the stretch. The basket calmed things down a bit, allowing UTEP to carry a three-point advantage (41-38) into the locker room.
 
Givance's lay-up in traffic, which was followed by a deft tip-in from Solomon, edged the Orange and Blue's lead to seven (45-38) just over one minute into the second half. The Owls answered with five in a row to creep within two (47-45).
 
After UTEP extended the lead by out to six 53-47, the Owls caught fire and drained triples on three straight possessions to regain the advantage and force Golding to call timeout with his squad down (56-53, 12:55 2H). Rice added two more baskets following the stoppage before Solomon halted the 13-0 surge to bring the Miners within five (60-55). That was followed by a fastbreak lay-up for Givance, off a steal, to make it a three-point game (60-57, 8:38 2H).
 
Rice countered with six straight points to go out by nine (65-57, 7:52 2H) before a corner trey from Hardy halted the push. UTEP remained down by eight (75-67, 4:25 2H), but back-to-back scores cut the difference to four (75-71, 3:03 2H). Rice nudged its lead to six before a triple by Hardy made it a one-possession affair (77-74).
 
The Owls were up by five (81-76) with just 31 seconds left before the late-game dramatics nearly resulted in a UTEP come-from-behind victory.
 
UTEP concludes its two-game road trip by playing at Charlotte at 2 p.m. MT/4 p.m. ET on Monday. Jon Teicher (42nd year) will be on the call on "The Home of UTEP Basketball" 600 ESPN El Paso. It will also be streamed nationwide on ESPN+
 
Help support UTEP student-athletes by making a gift to the Miner Athletic Club.
 
Visit givingto.utep.edu/mac today!
 
Mattress Firm is the Presenting Sponsor of UTEP Men's Basketball.
 
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