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LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Tae Hardy poured in a game-high 21 points while Otis Frazier III also reached double figures (10 points) in scoring, but the UTEP men's basketball team was upended, 63-53, at NM State in the Conference USA opener for both schools Thursday night. It marked the first time in more than 60 years that the longtime rivals played a league contest against each other.
 
The Miners (8-7, 0-1 CUSA) whittled a 12-point second-half deficit (42-30, 13:41, 2H) down to four (53-49, 4:51, 2H), but the Aggies (7-9, 1-0 CUSA) did enough to hold on down the stretch. UTEP connected on 40.5 percent (17-42) from the floor and forced 17 turnovers, thanks to 11 steals, but it came up short in other areas as NM State moved to 7-1 at home on the season.
 
The Aggies took advantage of a smaller UTEP line-up to win the boards, 37-24, despite the efforts of Kevin Kalu coming off the bench to secure a game-high tying seven rebounds. Also making a contribution from the pine was David Terrell Jr., who scored seven points on a perfect 3-3 shooting. That included draining his first career 3-pointer.  
 
Four different players reached double figures in scoring for the Aggies, including Christian Cook's team-best 15 points. UTEP held the Aggies to only 3-13 from 3-point range, but NM State registered 30 points in the paint to the Miners' 22 to compensate. Overall, the home side finished at 44.0 percent (22-50) from the floor, even though Orange and Blue locked them up to the tune of 37.5 percent (9-24) over the final 20 minutes of action.
 
"I think the toughest team was going to win," UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. "We got outrebounded by 13. Part of that was due to switching. We switched one through five because we wanted to take away the three and we did. They only got three 3-pointers, but the negative to that is you're going to give up some offensive rebounds.
 
"It's a 16-game Conference USA schedule," Golding said. "You've got to steal as many as you can (on the road) and we're 0-1," Golding said. "We've got seven more opportunities on the road, so you've got to keep battling and trust the process. We're going to have an opportunity in a month from now to protect our home floor (vs. NM State). We've got to keep your chin up, keep working and find the guys who want to do it our way."
 
Both teams came out shooting and it was a high-scoring affair early, with UTEP leading 13-10 with 14:10 left in the first half. The Miners hit four of their first six shots, including 3-3 from distance. NM State's offense was even hotter, though, nailing eight consecutive field goals at one point. That aided in the home side ripping off seven straight points to force Golding to call timeout with the Orange and Blue down four (17-13, 12:02 1H). As it turned out, UTEP would not lead again.
 
NM State added a lay-up in transition, a dunk and a free throw to nudge the differential to nine (22-13), with the Miners enduring a more than seven-minute scoring drought. Hardy finally halted the surge with a fadeaway jumper. After UTEP forced a turnover, Hardy was hammered without a call but still finished at the rim with the contested lay-up to inch the Miners within five (22-17, 5:50, 1H).
 
The home side got it back to seven (26-19, 1:39, 1H) before a corner 3-pointer from Terrell Jr. brought UTEP within four. NM State scored on its final possession of the half, and the Miners faced a six-point deficit (28-22) heading into the locker room.
 
UTEP was down by five (33-28, 16:48, 2H) early in the second stanza only to have the Aggies peel off seven straight points and extend their advantage to double figures (40-28). Frazier III stopped it with a lay-up off a beautiful feed from Terrell Jr.
 
NM State pushed it back to 12 (44-32), but a corner jumper from Corey Camper Jr. was followed by two Hardy free throws to cut it to eight. After another stop, Hardy buried a 3-pointer to make it a 7-0 run and a five-point contest (44-39, 10:40, 2H).
 
The Aggies countered with a 7-2 push to once again lead by double digits (51-41, 8:38, 2H). UTEP continued to chip away at the margin, working its way to within just four (53-49, 4:51, 2H). NM State scored on its next two possessions to power a 5-0 run, and UTEP couldn't get closer than seven the rest of the way.
 
The Miners return home to face Chicago State in their final nonconference contest of the season at 1 p.m. MT Sunday. The contest will be broadcast on 600 ESPN El Paso and streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required). Tickets are available by visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/Tickets or by calling (915) 747-UTEP.
  
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