Game Book
UTEP ATHLETICS STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 28, 2026
Contact: Mark Brunner
UTEP Falls At WKU, 97-65
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Jamal West Jr. (22 points),
Kaseem Watson (15 points) and
Caleb Blackwell (14 points) all reached double figures in scoring, but the UTEP men's basketball team was bounced at high-flying WKU, 97-65, Saturday afternoon.
There was a frenetic pace of play from the opening tip, with the Miners (10-19, 6-12 CUSA) and Hilltoppers (18-11, 11-7 CUSA) tied at eight less than two minutes into the tilt. WKU turned up the heat with an 11-0 surge, and UTEP never fully recovered. The Miners were down by 10 (49-39) at the break and trailed by 12 (74-62) with eight minutes left before the home side switched into high gear with another big run to close out the contest.
KJ Thomas registered seven points to get after it as well offensively alongside Blackwell, Watson and West Jr. Blackwell registered a team-leading four assists followed by a trio from Thomas. West Jr. pulled down a game-high tying seven rebounds.
Mouhamed Mbaye had impactful minutes off the pine with three points and five boards in 12 minutes of action.
Trey Horton III and
Bobby Montgomery Jr. each chipped in a pair off pints.
West Jr. went 7-11 from the floor and got to the line 13 times (6-13) as well. The Miners finished at 35.8 percent (19-53) as a unit, including 8-28 (28.6 percent) from beyond-the-arc. UTEP was 19-29 (65.5 percent) at the charity stripe.
WKU opened the game by connecting on 18-23 from the floor, including 8-8 out of the gates, on the way to nailing 19-29 (65.5 percent) in the opening frame. The Toppers cooled off a bit after the break, but they still finished at 59.3 percent (32-54) overall from the field. They were 9-20 (45.0 percent) on triples. WKU was also 24-28 (85.7 percent) at the charity stripe. Three different Toppers (Grant Newell, 25 points, Teagan Moore, 24 points and LJ Hackman, 21 points) surpassed 20 points to key the charge for the home squad.
The game featured one tie and three lead changes, all in the opening half of action.
"We played hard in the first half and then just got our butts kicked the final 20 minutes. There wasn't a whole lot of fight there," UTEP head coach
Joe Golding said. "We couldn't guard them man, so we went back to zone to try give ourselves a chance to stay in the game. We kept it at 10 or 12 (until roughly eight minutes left) and then it got away from us. Credit them, they're playing really good basketball right now. They got downhill, points in the paint were 46-18. That tells you everything you need to know, everything that I'm against."
Thomas buried a 3-pointer to get the Miners on the board before a 5-0 push by WKU. Watson ended it with by drifting behind the line for a trey. After the Toppers went in front with a triple, Blackwell slashed through the defense for a reverse layup off the glass to tie the tilt (8-8, 18:18, 1H) as the fast pace of play continued.
WKU kept firing and ripped off 11 in a row to put the Orange and Blue down 19-8 less than five minutes in the affair. UTEP would never lead again, but it kept competing. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Blackwell and Watson, respectively, cut the margin to five (19-14, 14:20, 1H)) and forced a timeout by the home side. The stoppage paid dividends for the Toppers, who peeled off seven straight to stretch the differential to 12 (26-14, prompting a timeout from Golding.
UTEP got it back into single digits with a free throw from West Jr. and another triple by Watson (26-18). After four in a row from the Toppers to nudge it back to double digits, two free throws by Mbaye and a pull-up jumper by Watson cut things to eight again (30-22, 10:10, 1H).
The Toppers responded with a 17-8 surge, including tallying the final five points in the sequence, with the Miners suddenly facing a 17-point deficit (47-30, 4:16, 1H). West Jr. was dared to shoot a 3-pointer, which he buried to end run. It also started a 9-2 push over the final four minutes of the half, which he capped with a tip-in with six seconds left, closing the gap to 10 (49-39) through 20 minutes of action.
The second stanza started much like the first, with both teams scoring at will early in the frame. A layup from WKU was answered by one from West Jr. After a pair of free throws for the home side, Watson had a silky-smooth jumper. Watson then countered a triple from the Toppers, keeping the Miners within striking distance (56-46, 17:33, 2H).
Things continued to go back-and-forth over the next several minutes, with neither side able to string together a run. Blackwell displayed his touch with a beautiful floater (64-53, 14:13, 2H). West Jr. then started to assert himself by tallying the next six points for his squad. The margin was 12 (74-62, 8:13, 2H) before the Toppers finishing the game on a 23-3 run to erase any late comeback aspirations by the Orange and Blue.
The Miners will be back in El Paso for the final week of the regular season. Up first will be a nationally-televised tilt (CBS Sports Network) against Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. MT on Thursday.
Jon Teicher (45th year) and Steve Yellen (23rd year) will be describing the action on "The Home of UTEP Basketball" 600 ESPN El Paso. Tickets begin as low as $9.15 and may be purchased by visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/Tickets or calling (915) 747-UTEP.
Support the Miner Athletic Club
Help support UTEP student-athletes by making a gift to the Miner Athletic Club. Visit https://am.ticketmaster.com/utep/donor-level/MTY%3D today!
