Men’s Basketball: UTEP falls on the road against UTSA

The UTEP men’s basketball team blew a big early lead and lost a key conference game on the road at UTSA Saturday night.

The Miners built a 21-5 lead early in the game but watched that lead disappear before falling by a final score of 65-61.

Both teams entered the game with a 2-4 mark in conference play, but it’s the Roadrunners who managed to grab their third win in Conference USA.

In addition to the loss, UTEP might be without center Matt Willms going forward. He did not play in the second half after sustaining what appeared to be a foot or ankle injury – something that has plagued him throughout his career.

Isiah Osborne led the Miners in scoring with 20 points and added nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, UTSA’s bench provided a big spark in the game. They outscored UTEP’s bench 35-11, getting 20 of those points from guard Keaton Wallace.

UTEP relied heavily on the three-point shot Saturday. The Miners took 30 three-pointers compared to just 23 shots from inside the arc. UTEP shot 8-30 from downtown in the game (26.7%).

The Miners return to action Thursday at UAB and then follow that up with another road game at defending C-USA champion Middle Tennessee on Saturday.