UTEP trounces FIU, 81-61, for second straight win
EL PASO, Texas - The UTEP men’s basketball team shot 57.1 percent from the floor, dominated the boards (35-19) and used big scoring runs throughout the game on the way to a resounding 81-61 victory against FIU at the Don Haskins Center Thursday evening.
With the 20-point dismantling of the Panthers (8-11, 2-6 C-USA), the Miners (11-8, 4-4 C-USA) have now won two straight and three of the past four to climb back to .500 in league play.
It also marked the 600th triumph all time inside the Don Haskins Center, with ironically the first one coming against UTEP head coach Joe Golding’s alma mater Abilene Christian.
Shamar Givance notched his third double-double of the season (all via points and assists) with 15 points and 10 helpers to set the tone for UTEP’s offense. Otis Frazier III (15 points, six boards, four steals), Calvin Solomon (10 points, five rebounds, two assists) and Jamari Sibley (10 points, five caroms) also turned in big nights.
Tae Hardy (seven points), Mario McKinney Jr. (seven points, three boards), Ze’Rik Onyema (six points, five rebounds), Jon Dos Anjos (six points, two rebounds) and Carlos Lemus (five points) also got after it for UTEP’s balanced attack.
The Miners had nine different players that tallied at least five points.
UTEP had a big advantage for points in the paint (40-22), points off turnovers (26-12) and second-chance points (17-5).
The Orange and Blue forced 16 giveaways and came away with 12 offensive rebounds, with three by Frazier III. The Miners’ bench also outpaced FIU, 28-19.
FIU was paced by 18 points from Denver Jones, while Nick Guadarrama (12 points) and Dashon Gittons (11 points) also hit double figures.
“I have a lot of respect for FIU,” Golding said. “They’ve got a really good team that has beaten UAB and Charlotte at their place and lost in overtime to Florida Atlantic. We were good tonight in most aspects of the game. The second half we were even better. To hold them to 61 points (11 below average) is good.
“The two biggest keys tonight were turnovers and rebounding,” Golding said. “We took care of the ball somewhat. We turned it over 14 times and turned them over 16 times, but we outscored them 26-12 in points off turnovers. The rebounding (35-19) with 12 offensive rebounds (was good). I’m proud of our guys and happy for them. Up and down the lineup we had guys playing really hard and playing together.”
The squads traded scores to start the contest, with UTEP leading by two (9-7, 15:31 1H) heading into the first media timeout.
Frazier III had four of the points in the sequence, including a slam dunk on a putback to get the Miners on the board first.
It proved to be the first of seven dunks for UTEP.
The Panthers clawed back into the lead at 12-11, but UTEP countered with a 9-0 run to pull back ahead for good. Dos Anjos started it with a triple, which was followed by a turnaround jumper from Sibley.
After another stop, Solomon sunk a basket in the post. UTEP forced another empty possession and extended the cushion to eight (20-12, 11:15 1H) with the alley-oop from Givance to Solomon.
FIU inched within five (22-17), but back-to-back fastbreak scores off forced turnovers led to the Panthers calling timeout with UTEP holding a nine-point cushion (26-17, 8:54 1H). The Miners nudged the differential to 12 (29-17, 7:44 1H) before a three-minute scoring drought allowed FIU to sneak within eight.
Dos Anjos halted the drought with a corner 3-pointer that rattled home. Lemus followed that with a trey of his own to extend the Orange and Blue’s differential to 14 (35-21).
They would carry a 12-point cushion (40-28) into the locker room, which was the largest this season against DI opposition.
FIU buried a triple at the onset of the second stanza to get back within single digits (40-31).
UTEP answered at the other end with four straight buckets in the paint (two from Onyema, two from Solomon).
After a steal, Hardy drilled a pair of free throws to make it a 10-0 run and prompt a timeout from the visitors with the lead suddenly at 19 (50-31, 16:37 2H).
It was ineffective, with UTEP harassing FAU into a couple more turnovers, as the run swelled to 16 straight to grow the advantage to 25 (56-31, 14:02).
Included in the dominant stretch was a highlight-reel one-handed dunk from Hardy on a breakaway. The visitors countered with an 14-2 surge, including 11 in a row, to whittle the Miner margin down to 13 (58-45, 11:02 2H).
Givance stemmed the tide with an important 3-pointer halfway through the half.
It was back-and-forth over the next couple of minutes, with a McKinney Jr. old-fashioned 3-point play helping UTEP maintain control with a 16-point lead (66-50, 8:49 2H).
Frazier III brought the crowd of 3,500-plus fans to its feet with an alley-oop off the feed from Givance. UTEP put it cruise control down the stretch on the way to securing the win.
UTEP wraps up the two-game homestand against No. 24 and league leading Florida Atlantic at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Miners will be welcoming a ranked opponent to the Don Haskins Center for the first time since 2014 and will be in search of their first victory in the Sun City against a top-25 foe since 2001.
As part of “Golf Night,” fans can purchase two tickets and receive a TWC golf towel for $30.
Jon Teicher (42nd year) and Steve Yellen (20th year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso. It will also be streamed nationally on ESPN+, with Erik Elken (PXP) and former Miner Hooper Vint (color) describing the action. Tickets are available by visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/Tickets or by calling (915) 747-UTEP.
