Pacific Pans Miners 73-66
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — During Pacific’s 18-game winning streak, a new hero seems to step up in every big situation. It was David Doubley’s turn on Saturday night, and the guard loved the spotlight.
Doubley scored 21 points and hit a key 3-pointer with 1:18 left to lead Pacific to its 18th straight victory, 73-66 over UTEP on Saturday night. Doubley also hit two free throws in the final minute to keep the 19th-ranked Tigers (22-2) unbeaten since mid-December.
His 3-pointer in front of the Pacific bench was the capper on a rare national television appearance for the Tigers. “I stepped up to the challenge,” Doubley said. “I rose to the occasion, I guess. You can’t be scared playing basketball, and I take pride in being fearless.”
Guillaume Yango added 13 points and seven rebounds as the Tigers maintained a narrow lead throughout the second half. They hung on with more of the proficient passing and aggressive inside play that has sent them on the nation’s second-longest winning streak. “I think we’re a little bit underrated,” Yango said. “I still don’t think everybody knows what we can do yet, but this helps show people tonight.”
Omar Thomas had 21 points and 12 rebounds for UTEP (20-7), which lost for the fourth time in seven games after a 17-3 start. It was the schools’ first meeting since 1967, when the Tigers beat UTEP — then known as Texas Western — one year after coach Don Haskins’ team won its only national championship.
The schools were evenly matched: Pacific led throughout the final 30 minutes, but never by more than 11 points. UTEP pulled to 61-56 on John Tofi’s jumper with three minutes left, but Doubley hit a 3-pointer in front of the Tigers’ bench.
The Miners then got to 70-66 on two free throws by Thomas, but Doubley hit two more free throws with 22.9 seconds left. “Obviously, they’re a team on a roll,” UTEP coach Doc Sadler said. “They’re just a good basketball team. Everybody knows that. I’m very pleased with the way we played. Every time we had a chance to maybe get a little closer, they made two big 3-pointers. They made the plays down the stretch.”
Pacific’s winning streak is tied with Utah’s 18-game string, and both schools trail Illinois’ 27-0 start. The Tigers clinched their second straight Big West Conference championship three days earlier with a victory over UC Santa Barbara.
Tofi had 12 points and 12 rebounds for UTEP, which again is pushing for an NCAA tournament berth despite the offseason departure of coach Billy Gillispie. Sadler already is the winningest first-year coach in school history — but the Miners must fly to Honolulu on Sunday for a tough Monday night game against Hawaii.
Pacific was the only ranked team involved in the so-called “Bracket Buster” Saturday games, and the contest began well after 9 p.m. local time to accommodate a national television broadcast. But the Spanos Center was literally packed to the rafters: A few fans in the back row of the arena were close enough to touch the metal girders holding up the roof. It was just the ninth sellout in the history of the 6,150-seat building, and the fans were determined to dance on Pacific’s national stage.
The student section featured several fans in full body paint, including one man with head-to-toe tiger stripes and a small pair of shorts. Pacific was sparked early by its orange-clad crowd, making a 14-4 run midway through the first half even while leading scorer Christian Maraker was out with foul trouble.
Thomas kept the Miners in it, getting 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first half while his teammates all struggled. “It felt good that we had a lot of guys stepping up at the right time,” Maraker said. “We had a lot of depth when we need.”
