UTEP falls to UNM 78-77 after rallying from 21 down

The UTEP Miners rallied from 21 points down against New Mexico Wednesday night in Albuquerque but were unable to stop Elijah Brown from hitting a game-winning jumper with just over five seconds to play as the Lobos knocked off the Miners 78-77.

UTEP trailed 27-6 less than eight minutes into the game, and many thought they were headed for another bad loss.

But UTEP guards Dominic Artis (13 points, 12 assists) and Omega Harris (22 points) rallied the team and helped close the deficit to just eight at the half.

In the second half, UTEP would actually take the lead behind the best performance of freshman Deon Barrett’s young career.

Barrett his seven three-pointers in the second half and tallied 25 points after not scoring in the first half. He gave UTEP a three-point lead with just over 30 seconds to play after knocking down a three from the left wing. Barrett had only scored 25 points in his first six games combined, before exploding Wednesday night at WisePies Arena a.k.a. The Pit in front of nearly 12,000 fans.

UTEP held a one-point lead with 18 ticks to go when Dominic Artis missed the front end of a one-and-one. That gave New Mexico one last chance to take the lead, and they would not let down their fans.

Elijah Brown hit a leaner from just inside the three-point line in the closing seconds to put the Lobos up a point, capping off a 25-point night to lead all UNM scorers.

UTEP had five seconds to respond, and Artis managed to get off a desperation three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but it missed wide right, giving the Lobos their 77th win over UTEP all-time in the 142nd meeting between the teams.

The Miners fell to 2-5 on the year, while the Lobos improved to 6-3.

UTEP next plays at home against rival New Mexico State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13.