UTEP Men’s Basketball comeback bid comes up short at Sam Houston in 60-56 setback

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (KVIA) -- The UTEP men’s basketball team gave first-place Sam Houston everything it wanted before coming up just shy in a 60-56 road setback Saturday afternoon. 

The Miners (11-10, 2-4 CUSA) asserted themselves well early, racing out to seven-point advantages on three different occasions, including leading the Bearkats (12-9, 5-1 CUSA) by a score of 28-21 with about three minutes left in the first half. The home side fought back, tallying seven straight to close out the frame. Sam Houston continued that momentum into the second stanza, eventually wrapping a 21-2 run around halftime to seemingly take control of the contest with a 42-30 cushion with 15:02 remaining in regulation. 

UTEP had other ideas, whittling the deficit all the way down to one (56-55) with 4:28 on the clock, but the Bearkats managed to hold on. The Miners had four different shots that refused to go down with the margin still at one, including a layup attempt by Derick Hamilton that spun all around the rim before dropping out. 

Sam Houston finally nudged the differential to three (58-55) with 1:11 left. David Terrell Jr. then split a pair of free throws to make it a two-point tilt. UTEP looked poised get the ball back, but a foul with just one second on the shot clock and 20 ticks in the tilt saved the possession for the home side. The Miners almost forced a five-second violation on the inbounds before a timeout from Sam Houston. The Bearkats got the ball in cleanly on the second try, and UTEP fouled immediately. Both free throws were pure, and the Miners couldn’t get it to go at the other end as Sam Houston held on. 

The Bearkats, who entered making just 12.7 turnovers per game (third CUSA), were flustered by the Miners. UTEP, which leads the NCAA in both turnovers forced per contest (19.3) and steals per game (11.9), registered 13 steals on the way to harassing Sam Houston into committing 22 giveaways that the Miners converted into 21 points. The Orange and Blue also held the Bearkats to 40.6 percent (26-64) from the field, including just 23.1 percent (3-13) from distance. 

Sam Houston made up for those shortcomings by controlling the boards (51-31), including hauling down 22 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second-chance points. UTEP was also limited to a readout of 36.2 percent and played the entire second half with starter Otis Frazier III following an injury. 

Tae Hardy (13 points) and Zid Powell (10 points) each hit double figures in scoring while Calvin Solomon came off the bench to provide nine points, reaching 1,000 for his career in the process. Terrell Jr. pitched in six points and a game-high and career-best tying four steals. Kevin Kalu netted six points while sharing the team lead with Powell at five rebounds. 

UTEP fought through ample adversity in the game, losing both Frazier III and Baylor Hebb to injuries during the contest. Freshman sharpshoot Trey Horton III also missed the contest, along with Sebastian Cole. 

“I thought everybody stepped up, and I’m proud of that effort,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “That effort will win in this league. The one negative is the offensive rebounds. That’s where it was (hurtful to UTEP). We did a great job guarding the three-point line. Our ball movement was good tonight. It was a Saturday afternoon dogfight in Conference USA. We gave ourselves a chance to win on the road against this team that’s in first place.”

UTEP got on the board first, fittingly off a steal and score in transition, where Powell flew in to dunk home a lay-up from Frazier III that spun out. Following a stop, Hardy ducked through traffic and took a hit for the hoop and some harm. He then connected on a turn-around jumper to cap the game-opening 7-0 run. The Bearkats countered with an 11-2 push to take their first lead (11-9) of the contest with 13:34 left in the half. 

The Orange and Blue composed themselves and answered back by ripping off nine straight points. Frazier III got it going with a lay-up before good ball movement set up Hardy’s wide-open corner trey. Terrell Jr. then went 1-2 at the charity stripe. After another stop, Terrell Jr. set up Hebb on the ensuing possession for a straightaway 3-pointer that he buried to put the finishing touches on the run. When the dust had settled, UTEP once again led by seven (18-11, 11:37, 1H).

After the home side clawed within two (23-21), the Miners tallied five in a row on the way to being up by seven with roughly three minutes left in the frame. Defense started it with Powell getting a steal. He fed it to Hardy, who got it back to a streaking Powell for the dunk in what was textbook fastbreak execution.

The Miners got another steal, this one by Frazier III, who was hurt when he landed awkwardly flying in for a transition opportunity. Solomon took the free throws in his stead, going 1-2. Solomon then filled up a fadeaway jumper to cap the surge. Sam Houston struck back with seven straight points to pull even going into the locker room with the teams knotted at 28. 

After UTEP got a putback from Kalu to start the second stanza, the Bearkats ripped off 12 straight points to make it a 21-2 run wrapped around halftime on the way to securing a 12-point advantage (42-30, 15:02, 2H). Golding called a pair of timeouts during the surge, trying to stem the tide. 

Powell finally ended the surge with a two-handed flush, but plenty of damage had been done. UTEP, though, would refuse to quit, fighting back within four (51-47) after an old-fashioned 3-point play by Kalu. Five consecutive points by the home side put UTEP back down by nine (56-47), but eight straight points made it a one-point contest. The Miners could get no closer as the home side held on down the stretch.

UTEP returns to the friendly confines of the Don Haskins Center (10-2 record) where it will open a three-game homestand by playing host to Jax State at 7 p.m. MT Thursday.  Jon Teicher (43rd year) and Steve Yellen (21st year) will be on the call on "The Home of UTEP Basketball" 600 ESPN El Paso and the UTEP Miners App. 

It will also stream on ESPN+ (subscription required, with Mando Medina (play-by-play) and former Miner (Hooper Vint) describing the action. Tickets start as low as $9.15. For more information, please visit www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets or call (915) 747-UTEP.