Game Book
EL PASO, Texas – Cam McDaniels went off for 22 points,
Leif Moeller added 10 points, and the defense did the rest as the UTEP men's basketball team knocked off NM State, 60-58, in exciting fashion in round one of the Battle of I-10 in front of a roaring 6,180 fans at GECU Arena at the Don Haskins Center Thursday evening.
The Miners' (2-1) defense was at its best down the stretch, keeping the Aggies (1-2) scoreless for the final 2:58 of the contest. That included getting a stop on the final possession of the game, with a fadeaway 3-pointer from Jermaine Washington coming up plenty short as time expired. It was a wild tilt with eight ties and nine lead changes, but the Orange and Blue never trailed at any point in the second half. They hit big shots at key times while delivering stop after stop to secure their second straight win.
UTEP held the Aggies to 39.6 percent from the floor (19-48) and hung tough on the boards (37-34). The Miners forced 18 turnovers that led to 16 points while also holding a 22-12 advantage for points in the paint. UTEP did just enough offensively, with McDaniels notching his second straight 20+ point outing to set the tone. The Miners recorded 14 assists on 21 made field goals and also sank 10-14 (71.4 percent) at the charity stripe.
"That was a backyard brawl. You never know what you're getting into with these (rivalry) games. Both teams competed their butts off," UTEP head coach
Joe Golding said. "We weren't great offensively, but the defense won the game. That's growth for us from the last week-and-a half. You've got to find a way to win ugly games, and I thought our toughness and physicality was good tonight. They did a great job defensively taking us out of what we wanted to do, but we found a way to win."
Youssouf Traore and
Jace Whiting both pitched in eight points.
Reid Cason made his impact felt with three points, four boards and a career-high-tying three steals.
Ryan Jackson Jr. changed the game with his energy, sparking a big run in the first half. He finished with three points, three rebounds, two steals and a team-best +13 for plus/minus.
Both defenses were dug in early, and NM State led 9-4 nearly nine minutes into the contest. The Miners ended a 7-0 run by the Aggies, and a lengthy scoreless drought too, with a pick-and-roll run to perfection between Traore and Moeller, with the big man banking in the layup. NM State countered with five straight, and the deficit was eight (14-6, 8:52, 1H).
UTEP struck back with nine straight points, which coincided with Jackson Jr. entering the affair. McDaniels kicked it off by blazing past the defense for a layup. After UTEP forced a turnover, thanks to Jackson Jr., McDaniels was pure for the Miners' first triple of the tilt to cut the margin to three (14-11). Following another stop, Traore finger rolled in a layup to make it a one-point contest (14-13, 6:33, 1H). NM State called timeout to slow the run, which was eventually capped at 9-0 as a result of two Cason free throws.
It went back and forth over the next several minutes, as buckets started to fall both ways. Whiting drilled a corner trey to propel the Miners in front by two, but the visitors answered with one of their own. Cason split a pair of free throws to tie the game only to have an alley-oop give NM State the two-point edge.
The Miners scored the next five, with a triple by Moeller and two free throws from McDaniels. The Aggies sank a high-arcing 3-point shot from well beyond the line with less than a second left to even the ledger at 28 going into the locker room.
A couple of baskets by McDaniels at the rim sandwiched a free throw from NM State, giving the Orange and Blue a three-point edge (32-29) early in the second half. After a baseline jumper from the visitors, an extra pass by Jackson Jr. led to Moeller splashing home a 3-pointer.
The Aggies beat the buzzer with a hook shot, but UTEP had an answer. The Orange and Blue drilled consecutive triples by
Reese Miller and McDaniels, respectively, to stretch their lead to eight (41-33) and force a timeout. NM State ended the push with a trey. UTEP punched back with Whiting's second 3-pointer of the game.
The Aggies countered with a 7-0 surge, but Jackson Jr. ended it with a triple from the corner. After a jumper by the visitors dropped through,
Donovan Criss' old-fashioned 3-point play nudged the differential to four (54-50, 7:58, 2H).
UTEP's lead was six (58-52) following a fadeaway jumper by Moeller before consecutive treys from NM State tied the tilt. Traore quickly put UTEP back in front, and as it turned out, that was the final basket of the ball game.
The Aggies had a chance to tie things up after a stop, but they missed the front end of the one-and-one. UTEP repaid the favor by doing the same, keeping it a two-point differential (60-58) with 45 seconds left.
After a misfire by the Miners, it fittingly came down to the defense. UTEP defended tightly to force the fadeaway triple that barely scraped iron, and the Miners secured the rebound for the win.
UTEP will wrap up the three-game homestand when it plays host to Florida A&M at GECU Arena at the Don Haskins Center at 6 p.m. MT on Sunday. The contest will be streamed on MW+ (subscription required), in addition to being carried on "The Home of UTEP Basketball" 600 ESPN El Paso. Tickets may be purchased by visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets or calling (915) 747-UTEP.
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
