UTEP beats Incarnate Word to claim third consecutive victory

The UTEP men’s basketball team has now won three games in a row after beating Incarnate Word at home Tuesday by a final of 72-66.

The Miners were without starting center Matt Willms, who is expected to miss about two weeks with a lingering hand injury.

But UTEP’s other big men stepped up in a big way.

Forward Paul Thomas led the Miners with 16 points and added eight rebounds in the victory. Freshman forward Tirus Smith also performed admirably, tallying 15 points and six rebounds.

UTEP was tied at 28 with the Cardinals at the half. Then, things appeared as if they might deteriorate early in the second half when interim head coach Phil Johnson was ejected from the game for arguing with an official.

“I really wanted to send a message to the team,” said Johnson after the game. “Not through a [technical foul], just with some energy,” Johnson said after the game. “The rust showed after 10 days off. We’re a better basketball team than we showed.”

The Miners eventually showed just enough to put away the Cardinals later in the second half after rallying from a six-point deficit.

Kobe Magee’s steal off an inbounds pass and layup at the other end with about four minutes to go gave UTEP an eight-point lead and effectively closed the door on UIW.

The Miners forced the Cardinals to commit a staggering 25 turnovers in the game. UTEP, however, also had turnover issues as they committed 18 of their own

UTEP improved to 4-6 on the year with the win while UIW fell to 5-4.

The Miners will next play Howard on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational Tournament. If the Miners win that game, they would meet the winner of North Dakota State and UNC Wilmington in the championship game of the tournament on Friday at a time yet to be determined.