Men’s Basketball: UTEP falls at The Pit against UNM, 84-78

The UTEP men’s basketball team faltered down the stretch in an 84-78 loss against New Mexico at The Pit Saturday night.

The Miners held the Lobos scoreless through the first seven minutes and change and took a five point lead into the break, but UNM outscored UTEP by 11 in the second half to grab their third win of the year.

All five UTEP starters scored in double figures with Evan Gilyard’s 22 points leading the way. Paul Thomas added 16 points and two blocks in the loss.

UTEP owned the first ten minutes of the game, outscoring the Lobos 14-3, but UNM was able to battle back thanks in large part to 18 points from Anthony Mathis, who went 4-4 from deep.

UNM as a team was hot from beyond the arc Saturday, connecting on 11 of their 18 attempts from downtown (61.1%).

UTEP fell to 2-3 with Saturday’s result. The Miners must now get ready for a home game Wednesday against New Mexico State, which already owns a 96-69 victory over UTEP this season.

The Miners are now 0-3 on the road this season with losses to UNM, NMSU, and Arizona.

Meanwhile, the Lobos must prepare for a road game at Bradley on Dec. 1.