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EL PASO, Texas – The UTEP men's basketball team bolted to a 25-point halftime lead (52-27) on the way to cruising past Division II member, Western New Mexico, 107-70, at the Don Haskins Center Friday evening. It marked the most points in a game by the Miners (2-0) in two years.
The Mustangs scored the first point of the contest on a free throw, but it proved to be their only lead of the affair. The visitors were doing the best they could to hang around, trailing by seven (23-16) midway through the first half before UTEP turned up the heat. It closed the stanza on a 29-11 surge to cruise into the locker room up by 25 (52-27). The Miners never let the visitors get closer than that the rest of the way.
UTEP's pressure defense was instrumental throughout, holding WNMU to 36.4 percent shooting (20-55), including 26.9 percent (7-26) in the first half. The visitors also struggled to take care of it, committing 22 turnovers, with 16 of those coming in the opening frame. The Orange and Blue also swatted eight shots, their most since blocking eight vs. WNMU two years ago (12/4/23)
The Miners were locked in at the other end of the court, executing effectively while shooting nearly 60.0 percent (42-72, 58.3 percent). Five different players hit double figures in scoring. They were in the form of
Jamal West Jr. (16 points),
Elijah Jones (16 points),
Tyreese Watson (15 points),
David Tubek (career-high 14 points) and
KJ Thomas (career-high 13 points) while
Cassius Brooks netted eight points.
Unselfish basketball was the key, as UTEP dropped 24 assists.
Tyreese Watson dished out a game-high seven dimes for a well-rounded Miner debut. Kasseem Watson filled up the stat sheet with six points, seven boards and a career-most five assists.
Jones also was impactful at the other end with a career-best five blocked shots, the most by a Miner since Jamari Sibley also had five at UTSA on Jan. 23, 2022.
Mouhamed Mbaye pulled down a career-best eight rebounds, helping UTEP crush WNMU on the glass (46-25). The Miners piled up 22 offensive rebounds, with Mbaye accounting for six of them.
The paint was dominated by the home side (68-28). Other specialty stats also went to the Orange and Blue were in form of bench scoring (48-13), points off turnovers (30-9), fastbreak points (21-13) and second-chance points (19-11).
"I thought the first half, there were a lot of good things," UTEP head coach
Joe Golding said. "I thought we were better than Monday night. The first half defensively we were really good. We were flying around, we forced 16 turnovers and rebounded the ball defensively. In the second half, it was flipped. Offensively we were pretty good and defensively we were awful. We've got to get better defensively, and we've got to play for 40 minutes."
UTEP came out crisp offensively, connecting on 5-8 en route to snagging a 10-7 edge at the first media timeout. It was a balanced approach, with buckets from four different players. The Miners started to stretch their lead, with a 6-0 run in the blink of an eye making it a nine-point differential (19-10, 12:24, 1H) and forcing WNMU to call timeout.
A brilliant dish from
Tyreese Watson set up
Kaseem Watson for a wide-open layup.
LA Hayes then beat the defense for an easy score before Thomas came up with a steal and went in alone for the score.
The differential was seven (23-16) when a mini 5-0 run from afforded the Miners their first double-digit cushion of the contest (28-16, 9:04, 1H). After a triple from the visitors, UTEP got hot.
Tyreese Watson got things going with a wide-open 3-pointer. Jones then knocked down two free throws.
The pair then teamed up to bring the fans to their feet. Jones swatted a shot, ran the floor and was rewarded with a no-look pass from
Tyreese Watson to set up an emphatic dunk. The play was in the middle of a 18-3 run, including 13 straight from the Orange and Blue that suddenly made it a 22-point game (41-19, 5:24, 1H).
The Miners stretched the margin to 27 on a couple of occasions before settling for a 25-point lead (52-27) heading into halftime.
UTEP kept the pedal to the metal in the second stanza, outscoring the Mustangs 15-6 over the first five minutes of the frame to move ahead by 34 (67-33, 15:08, 2H). West Jr. displayed his strength by powering to the hoop after the dime from Thomas. He then called his own number for consecutive scores, both on layups. A pair of dunks and another post finish by West capped the surge.
Golding was able to get playing time up and down the bench as the Orange and Blue rolled to the 37-point win.
UTEP will conclude the season-opening three-game homestand when it challenges LMU at 7 p.m. MT Tuesday. The contest will be broadcast on 600 ESPN El Paso and streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required). or tickets, please visit www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets or call (915) 747-UTEP.
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