UTEP Men’s Basketball Upended At NM State, 67-63

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico – Jamal West Jr. tallied a game-high 22 points while Caleb Blackwell poured in 18 points, aided by drilling four 3-pointers, but the UTEP men’s basketball team was held off at I-10 rival NM State, 67-63, Saturday evening.

The Miners (10-17, 6-10, CUSA) jumped to an early 8-2 lead before the Aggies (13-16, 6-10 CUSA) kicked things into gear on the way to putting UTEP down by 10 (35-25) at the break. The Miners battled over the final 20 minutes of action. They eventually climbed within two (63-61) with 51 seconds to play only to have the home side hold on.

UTEP (22-55, 40.0 percent) and NM State (27-66, 40.9 percent) shot nearly identical percentages from the floor, but it was the effort on the glass by the Aggies that proved consequential by giving them 11 more attempts. Despite a contest-high 10 rebounds from Kaseem Watson, NM State outrebounded UTEP (38-35). That was aided by 14 offensive caroms.

UTEP went 11-13 (84.6 percent) at the charity stripe, led by West Jr. finishing 8-10 from the line. NM State was 5-7 (71.4 percent) in the tilt. Both squads nailed eight triples.

Watson contributed eight points to nearly produce a double-double while Elijah Jones, LA Hayes (off the bench) and KJ Thomas all pitched in five points.

Jemel Jones netted 21 points, including big buckets late, to pace the Aggies.

“It was a good game back and forth between both teams. Obviously, we’d like to hit a few more open shots,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “I thought we got some good looks. Obviously, Caleb got us off to a good start. We got a little stagnant at the end of the first half offensively. The ball movement wasn’t great. We shoot 38 free throws or something like that in the first game (vs. NM State). We shot 13 tonight. I thought that was the difference in the game. They (NM State) deserved to win.”

NM State got on the board first with an alley-oop before Blackwell personally powered an 8-0 run, including back-to-back triples to put the Miners in front. The Aggies halted the surge with back-to-back buckets to cut the margin to one (8-7) heading to the first media break.

It was still a one-point edge (10-9), but Blackwell stretched it out to four after burying his third 3-pointer of the stanza. The advantage was five (17-12, 11:33, 1H) following a slick move from West Jr, but the home side took advantage of a UTEP cold spell to tally the next nine to sneak in front by four (21-17). The Miners, as it turned out, never led again.

Thomas halted it by blowing past the defender for the And-1 only to have NM State answer immediately with a triple at the other end. After a spinning score from West Jr., the Aggies had five straight to put the Miners down by seven (29-22, 2:44, 1H). Watson buried a 3-pointer off the feed by Blackwell, but a 6-0 surge from NM State forced UTEP to confront a 10-point deficit (35-25) heading to halftime.

It was back-and-forth over the first six minutes of the second stanza. The Aggies were up by nine (44-35), but the Miners started to tighten up on defense. UTEP got things going a bit at the other end with a triple by Jones and two tosses at the charity stripe to whittle the differential to four (44-40).

A tip-in from a shot that barely beat the shot clock stopped the mini push, but UTEP trimmed it to just two after two free throws and a fadeaway from West Jr. The Aggies punched back to send the Miners down by seven (53-46, 8:44, 2H), but Golding’s charges refused to fold up shop.

Hayes pulled up for a 15-foot jumper that was pure. UTEP then got a stop and a hesitation score by Jones to creep within three (53-50). A couple of baskets from NM State got the crowd going, but Hayes silenced them for the moment with a long 3-pointer to bring the Miners within four (57-53, 4:41, 2H). Following a score by NM State, Watson splashed home a 3-pointer to make it a three-point affair (59-56).

The Aggies nudged the margin to seven (63-56, 1:50, 2H), but UTEP kept coming. Blackwell nailed a corner 3-pointer. The Miners then got a stop and West Jr. was fouled. He calmly sank both, on the front end of a one-and-one, letting the Orange and Blue move within two (63-61) with 51 seconds remaining in regulation.

NM State got a clutch score at the other end from Jones, but Blackwell’s driving layup once again made it a two-point tilt (65-63). UTEP was forced to foul, and the Aggies took care of the business as Jones connected on both free throws salt away the contest.

UTEP will play the second of three straight on the road while also looking to complete a season sweep of Middle Tennessee when it challenges the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at 5:30 p.m. MT/6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Jon Teicher (45th year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso. It will also stream on ESPN+ (subscription required).