UTEP eliminated from C-USA Tournament; controversial call in Miners’ loss to FAU

FRISCO, Texas - You hate to see officiating affect the outcome of a game, but it clearly was a factor in UTEP's loss to Florida Atlantic.

The Miners saw their season come to an end at the hands of the FAU Owls by a final score of 76-70.

UTEP had high hopes entering the first round of the Conference USA Tournament after last week's narrow defeat to 13th ranked Kansas.

The game against FAU was a seesaw match from start to finish.

The Miners trailed 34-33 at the half and the rest of the game both teams traded the lead.

With the game tied at 64 and under 4 minutes to go, UTEP's Bryson Williams would get a bucket to drop in the paint, and would also draw a foul.

However, all that would be negated after an official ruled Williams had stepped out of bounds.

But upon further review and a look at instant reply, there was no doubt Williams was inbounds the whole time.

William's shoe came nowhere near the baseline.

That play cost UTEP a potential 3-point play, and the Owls would take advantage and pull away from that point forward.

The controversial call was a momentum killer for UTEP and it clearly sucked the energy out of the Miners the rest of the game.

Coach Rodney Terry said after the game that the call wasn't the reason UTEP lost the game, but he said the mistake shouldn't have been made when it did.

Souley Boum had another big game for the Miners leading the way in scoring with 23 points.

UTEP ends their season with an overall record of 12-12.

The Miners haven't won a conference tournament game since 2017, and unfortunately they'll have to wait another year to break that streak.

It's been an even a longer wait for the Miners and their appearance in the NCAA Tournament .

The last time UTEP made the NCAA Tournament was in 2010.