UTEP can’t keep pace with UAB; Blazers top Miners, 63-51
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - UTEP's struggles on the hardwood continued Friday night in Birmingham Alabama.
The Miners lost game one against the UAB Blazers by a final score of 63-51.
UTEP was able to keep pace with the Blazers in the first half, going into halftime down four, 32-28.
But UAB would break away in the final minutes to hand UTEP their 9th loss of the season, 7th defeat in Conference USA play.
The Miners never had the lead in Friday's contest.
UAB is currently in first place of the western division of Conference USA.
Their win over UTEP improved their overall record to 15-2, 8-1 in C-USA.
UTEP's record dropped to 8-9 overall, 4-7 in C-USA.
Souley Boum led the way in scoring for the Miners with 22 points.
“I think they’re a really good defensive team, but I think we did a pretty good job defensively. We were right where we needed to be at the half in terms of getting stops,” third-year UTEP Head Coach Rodney Terry said. “We didn’t play completely great offensively in the first half, but still had it at a two-possession ball game at the half. We had some really good looks, but UAB made a couple more plays. I think some of the toughness plays down the stretch and UAB got a couple of offensive rebounds that kept them alive a little bit for second-chance opportunities.”
Boum, who played all 40 minutes, struggled from the field, shooting 7-of-20, but recorded 20 or more points in his fifth straight game.
Randy Culpepper was the last Miner to do so during the 2010-11 season. Boum finished 6-for-7 from the foul line, upping his free-throw percentage to 81.2 on the season.
Boum added five rebounds and three assists, but had a career-high seven of UTEP’s 10 turnovers.
Bryson Williams was the other Miner in double figures with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor and led UTEP with eight rebounds in 40 minutes of action.
Kristian Sjolund played a career-high over 24 minutes off bench, recording five points.
Keonte Kennedy (four points) and Jamal Bieniemy (one point) were the only other players to score for the Miners.
Bieniemy finished 0-for-9 from the field, and tallied six boards with three assists and no turnovers.
The Miners were hanging with the no. 1 team in C-USA, as they cut the lead to five points on three occasions during the second half.
A Kennedy layup cut the deficit to six points (49-43) with 8:17 to play, but UTEP followed with five consecutive misses on field goal attempts over a five-minute span.
In the first, the Blazers took a 10-point lead (28-18) after a dunk by Jackson at the 6:13 mark.
But the Miners battled back and cut the lead to four points (32-28) going into the locker room.
Sjolund drained a 3-pointer and Boum hit a pair of free throws with just over four minutes left that started a 5-0 spurt.
Boum hit another UTEP 3-point bucket that cut the lead to two points (30-28) at the 2:41 mark, but Jackson scored the last basket of the half with 2:13 to go.
UAB shot 42.1 percent from the floor and went 14-of-18 from the foul line. The Blazers bench outscored the Miners, 24-5.
Michael Ertel scored 12 of his 14 points during the second half.
UTEP will get another crack at the Blazers Saturday at 3 p.m. MT in Birmingham, Alabama.
