Game Book
EL PASO, Texas – KJ Thomas tallied a career-high 14 points while
Elijah Jones (15 points),
Kaseem Watson (10 points) and
Caleb Blackwell (10 points) joined him in double digits for scoring, but the UTEP men's basketball team was derailed by defending league champion and first-place Liberty, 73-64, inside the Don Haskins Center Saturday afternoon.
After the Flames (23-3, 14-0 CUSA) vaulted to a 9-2 edge roughly four minutes into the contest, the Miners (10-16, 6-9 CUSA) powered in front by virtue of a 23-6 run on the way to staking a 10-point cushion (25-15, 4:20, 1H). To its credit, Liberty regrouped and closed the half with a 13-2 surge to put UTEP down by a pair (28-26) heading to the locker room. The Miners fought back to tie the tilt on multiple occasions only to have another big run afford the visitors a 12-point advantage (53-41) with nine minutes in regulation.
UTEP refused to quit, narrowing the gap to three on a trio of occasions and creeping within two (66-64, 1:42, 2H), but the Flames answered every time en route to extending their winning streak to a school-record 16 games.
The Miners shot it well (24-50, 48.0 percent) including going 8-19 (42.1 percent) from 3-point range and 8-11 (72.7 percent) at the charity stripe. LU finished at 50.0 percent overall (27-54) despite connecting on 33.3 percent (9-27) from distance. It was 10-18 (55.6 percent) from the free-throw line.
Jamal West Jr. tallied eight points and grabbed five boards before fouling out, with his trouble in that department all game long limiting him to 25 minutes of action. Jones (eight) and Watson (seven) continued their strong work on the boards of late to help the Miners hold a 31-28 advantage in that department.
The game featured three lead changes and four ties, while each squad enjoyed a run of at least 10 straight points.
JJ Harper put up 18 points to pace a quartet of Flames in double figures for scoring.
"They're really good, a really good offensive team. To be honest, they've been together a long time, and they execute at a high level offensively," UTEP head coach
Joe Golding said. "We got stops in the first half a little bit, they missed some shots. We scored it a bit. We didn't finish the first half well. They went on a 13-2 run. We had Kaseem and Jamal in foul trouble, probably played guys a little too many minutes and they got fatigued. I thought it was a great college basketball game. It came down to the last two minutes with two teams fighting."
UTEP got on the board first with a bucket from West Jr. before a 9-0 push by Liberty put it in front by seven (9-2, 16:21, 1H). The deficit remained seven (11-4, 14:50, 1H), but the Miners kicked things into gear.
UTEP reeled off an 11-1 run, including six straight, on the way to springing in front by three (15-12, 10:20, 1H). Thomas started it off by knocking down a long jumper on the feed from
Trey Horton III. Blackwell then buried a straightway 3-pointer on the extra pass by Watson.
LU tried to slow things with a free throw, but
LA Hayes countered at the other end with a pair of his own at the line. Hayes kept things going by sinking a pull-up jumper from just inside the arc as the shot clock wound down. Jones put the finishing touches on it with a driving layup, flying past the defense before kissing it off the glass.
The visitors tallied the next couple of points to pull even at 15 before a 10-0 run from UTEP forced a timeout by the Flames. A
Cassius Brooks layup was followed by a triple by Thomas.
Mouhamed Mbaye then split a pair of free throws as LU continued to stay cold for the moment. A hook shot in the paint from Jones was followed by a strong take to the rim by Blackwell, to cap the run and send the Haskins Center into a frenzy after the Flames called timeout.
The 23-6 UTEP run spanned 10 minutes to turn the early 9-2 deficit into a double-digit cushion for the Miners. It remained that score as the clock hit three minutes left in the opening stanza before suddenly Liberty caught fire. It poured in 13 straight points in the blink of an eye to regain the advantage at 28-25. A late free throw from Jones stopped the sequence while allowing UTEP to enter the locker room down by a pair (28-26). As it turned out, the Miners never led again
LU nailed a triple on its opening possession of the second half, but Jones answered with one of his own. After the visitors nudged the differential to four (33-29), a tough finish inside by Watson and an offensive putback courtesy of Jones tied the tilt (33-33) four minutes into the second frame.
The Flames filled up a triple but good action from the Miners led to a clean look for Watson, who was pure on the trey to tie it again (36-36). The Flames countered with an 9-3 push to stake a six-point edge (45-39) before West Jr. finished at the rim.
LU eventually gained some separation with eight straight as UTEP slipped behind by 12 (53-41, 9:35, 2H). The Miners struck back with eight in a row, using a pair of free throws by West Jr. and consecutive triples by Jones and Thomas to climb within four. UTEP was again within four (57-53) after a strong take from West Jr. only to have a 3-pointer from the wing drop in by the Flames. Jones cleaned up a misfire with a hook shot. UTEP then got a stop and a floater from Thomas to slice things to three (60-57).
LU immediately countered with a layup to put the Miners down by five (62-57), but West Jr. backed down his defender for a dunk to once again make it a three-point tilt. Another layup was answered by two tosses at the line from Watson, with the Flames clinging to a three-point edge (64-61, 2:12, 2H).
The Miners got a stop, but a loose ball foul led to a pair of tosses at the stripe by Liberty, making it a five-point game again. UTEP had a response with a 3-point from Watson, but the wrapped the game on a 6-0 push ultimately hold on.
UTEP has a week off before heading up the road to battle I-10 rival NM State at 7 p.m. MT on Feb. 21.
Jon Teicher (45th year) and Steve Yellen (23rd year) will be on the call on "The Home of UTEP Basketball" 600 ESPN El Paso. It will also stream on ESPN+. Miner fans are encouraged to head up early to cheer on the UTEP women's basketball team, which will lock up with the Aggies inside the Pan-American Center at 2 p.m. that day.
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