UTEP bows out of Basketball Classic with 82-69 setback to Southern Utah

EL PASO, Texas - Souley Boum poured in 25 points while Keonte Kennedy (15 points) and Christian Agnew (13 points) also reached double figures in scoring, but the UTEP men’s basketball team was derailed by Southern Utah, 82-69, in the second round of the 2022 Basketball Classic presented by Eracism at the Don Haskins Center Tuesday evening.

The setback concludes the 2021-22 season for the Miners (20-14), who notched their first 20-win season since 2014-15 and won a postseason contest for the first time since 2009.

The Thunderbirds (22-11) advance to the third round of the tournament.

UTEP forced 14 turnovers that led to 14 points and only had five giveaways, but that wasn’t enough to overcome other discrepancies.

Southern Utah connected on 58.2 percent from the floor compared to 37.5 for the Miners.

UTEP was also outrebounded, 38-27.

With the 25-point scoring outburst, Boum moved up to eighth place all time on the Miners’ all-time career list with 1,458 points in a UTEP uniform.

Five different players hit double figures in scoring for Southern Utah, led by Nick Fleming’s 18 points off the bench.

“We got off to a good start defensively and were playing well but could never get it going” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “They hit some tough shots and got going offensively and from that point we just weren’t ourselves defensively.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Golding said. “We had had a heck of a year and did a lot of good things. It’s been a challenging year, but fun year with this group. They won 20 games and people are excited about UTEP Basketball again, and that’s a credit to these guys.”

The two sides traded scores over the first four minutes, with the game knotted at seven.

Boum started quickly, with five of UTEP”s seven points in the stretch.

The Miners then peeled off five in a row to lead, 12-7, with 14:50 remaining in the first half.

Kennedy had a steal and a dunk, which was followed by a triple from Jamari Sibley.

The Thunderbirds countered with a 24-6 push to pull ahead at 31-18 with 5:55 to play in the opening period.

It included a 14-0 run at one point for Southern Utah.

Boum halted it with a triple, cutting the differential to 10 (31-21).

It was back-and-forth the rest of the way, with UTEP trailing by 11 at the half (40-29).

Southern Utah tallied the first five points of the second half to lead by 16 (45-29) before Agnew drained the corner trey to get the Miners within 13.

The deficit was 14 (57-43) before back-to-back baskets from the Miners cut it to 10 (57-47, 12:31 2H).

After SUU went out by 12, Kennedy powered a personal 5-0 run to bring UTEP within eight (59-51, 10:09 2H).

The Thunderbirds extended it back to 10, but Kennedy hit a triple on the ensuing possession.

Southern Utah answered with 11 straight to put the Miners down by 18 (72-54) with 5:09 remaining in regulation.

UTEP kept battling down the stretch but could get never get back into the contest.