UTEP clipped at Sam Houston, 89-87; Miners lose 6th straight

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Devon Barnes tallied 16 points to pace six different Miners in double figures, but the UTEP men’s basketball team was outlasted at Sam Houston, 89-87, Thursday evening.

The Miners (17-13, 7-10 CUSA) shot it well, knocking down 48.4 percent (31-64), including 10-24 from distance.

The Bearkats (12-18, 5-12 CUSA), however, were even better.

They finished at 58.5 percent (31-53) from the floor, helped by connecting on 10-20 from 3-pointer range.

Corey Camper Jr. (15 points), Ahamad Bynum (13 points), Elijah Jones (11 points), Derick Hamilton (10 points) and David Terrell Jr. (10 points) all joined Barnes in double figures, but it wasn’t enough to get it done.

Bynum buried four 3-pointers while Barnes sank three and Jones knocked down a pair.

Lamar Wilkerson registered 29 points to lead the way for Sam Houston.

The Miners got a huge boost from the bench, outpacing Sam Houston in the category, 40-6.

Barnes keyed the charge, with Jones and Hamilton doing plenty of damage as well.

Both teams pounded the paint, racking up 40 points each.

Sam Houston was 17-28 from the free-throw line while the visitors finished at 15-23.

UTEP led for 26 minutes of the contest, including being up by as many as 12 in the first half.

The advantage was two (42-40) at the break, but the home side used hot shooting to retake the lead down the stretch.

The Miners were clinging to a one-point edge (64-63, 8:20, 2H) before seven straight from Sam Houston put it back in front.

UTEP continued to battle by making it a one-possession contest on eight different occasions, but it couldn’t quite get over the top.

The Orange and Blue fought to the final whistle, forcing two steals in the final minute. Barnes also hit a shot from three-quarters the length of the court as time expired.

“I’m the head coach, I’ve got to take ownership and everything. It’s my team and it’s on me. We’ve got to be better defensively,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “We scored it better. We hit 10 threes. We did some good things offensively. We turned it over too much, especially in the second half. Offensively, we opened the floor and did some OK things. It (the issues) was all on the defensive side of the floor.”

Wilkerson got the Bearkats on the board first, but Bynum answered with a 3-pointer on the feed by Terrell Jr. He was just getting going though, nailing two more over the first five minutes of the tilt.

After Camper Jr. floated home a shot in the lane, Bynum nailed a corner trey to power a 5-0 run and send UTEP out by five (11-5, 15:43, 1H).

Sam Houston tallied five of the next seven points to inch within two (13-11, 14:29, 1H) before a layup from Hamilton.

It was a one-point UTEP edge (15-14) when the Miners put together another 5-0 push.

Hamilton tipped in a missed shot and then Jones was pure on a trey, nudging the cushion to six (20-14, 12:19, 1H).

The home side cut it to three (20-17), but UTEP answered with six unanswered to grow the differential to nine (26-17, 9:17).

Barnes had four of the six points, including a pull-up jumper that capped the surge and forced a timeout by Sam Houston.

Kevin Kalu also had a score in the sequence, snagging his own miss and putting it back in.

The timeout proved fruitful, with five in a row by the Bearkats. UTEP countered with eight straight, which was started by a rare four-point by Barnes. A putback by Kalu ensued, and Terrell Jr. wrapped it up with a driving layup. UTEP’s edge was 11 (35-24) when Sam Houston got hot. It ripped off a 10-0 run in two minutes, including consecutive 3-pointers, to cut the Miners’ margin down to one (35-34, 4:07, 1H).

Jones halted things by using a pump fake to fly by the defender for a layup. Terrell Jr. then stole the inbounds pass and banked home a layup as the Orange and Blue moved ahead by five. Sam Houston tallied the next six points on the way to taking its first lead since 2-0.

The surge was stopped with the old-fashioned three-point play from freshman KJ Thomas, letting UTEP go up by two (42-42). After a basket by the Bearkats, Camper Jr. sliced through the defense for a lefthanded scoop shot, giving the Orange and Blue a two-point edge (44-42) at the half.

Otis Frazier III was fouled from beyond-the-arc on UTEP’s first possession of the second stanza, and he knocked down all three tosses. After two free throws by Sam Houston, Bynum nailed his fourth 3-pointer of the contest to let UTEP take a seven-point advantage (50-43, 18:02, 2H). 

The Bearkats crept within three, which was answered by Barnes drilling his second trey of the tilt.

The Miners then forced a turnover where Barnes drove and dished to Camper Jr., who drilled the corner 3-pointer to put them up nine (58-49, 14:35, 2H) and prompt a timeout from Sam Houston. UTEP remained ahead by nine after drive and score from Camper Jr., but back-to-back buckets from the Bearkats cut the differential to five (60-55, 11:44).

After a couple of empty trips from each side, a dunk and a free throw for Sam Houston made it a two-point tilt (60-58, 10:00, 2H). After the two squads traded baskets, a pair of makes at the charity stripe evened the game at 62. Barnes made the deadlock short lived, with a floater. It remained tied (64-64) when consecutive turnovers led to back-to-back scores for Sam Houston, letting it lead by four (68-64, 6:56, 2H).

The Bearkats took advantage, pushing the lead to six (70-64), but a Jones 3-pointer ended the run.

It was a three-point contest (73-70) after Terrell Jr. sank a free throw only to have Sam Houston drain a corner 3-pointer. Hamilton scored on the next trip in the pain, but Wilkerson filled up a trey. Once again, Hamilton scored, cutting the differential to five (79-74, 3:40).

The Bearkats, however, hit another jumper. The Miners countered with four consecutive points to climb within three (81-78, 2:32).

A Terrell Jr. layup was followed by Hamilton skying for a miss on a shot, getting the rebound and going in a for a breakaway slam.

Sam Houston scored on the next trip, but Jones slammed home a dunk to once again make it a three-point differential (83-80, 1:19, 2H). Wilkerson, however, filled up yet another triple.

Terrell hit a free throw to get UTEP within five. Camper Jr. then came up with a steal and score.

UTEP registered another steal on the next possession where Jones converted on one of the tries as the Orange and Blue cut it to two (86-84).

The Miners fouled, but Sam Houston sank both tosses.

UTEP will conclude the regular season by playing at LA Tech at 1 p.m. MT/2 p.m. Saturday.

The Miners will be looking for their second win in Ruston in the past four years after going not having done so since the 2003-04 campaign. 

Jon Teicher (44th year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso, with audio airing on the UTEP Miners app as well. It will also be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).