UTEP MBB falls to No. 1 Liberty Flames in the CUSA Quarterfinals
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (KVIA) -- Devon Barnes tallied 18 points, aided by drilling a career-high five 3-pointers, but the No. 8 seed UTEP men’s basketball team was knocked off by top seed and regular-season champion Liberty, 81-60, in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Conference USA Championships Wednesday.
The Miners (18-15) enjoyed an early 6-2 lead, but a 7-1 run from the Flames (26-6) sent them in front. UTEP fought back and eventually regained a small cushion at 18-16 following a Barnes four-point play, but once again Liberty had a response. It was in the form of a 10-0 surge to put the Orange and Blue down eight (26-18, 6:06, 1H), and UTEP never led again.
The deficit was 10 (36-26) at the half before Liberty really got going offensively in the second stanza. The Flames outscored the Miners, 45-34, after the break, aided by making 12 of their first 13 shots in the stanza.
Liberty nailed 58.2 percent from the floor (32-55), including sinking 48.0. percent on 3-pointers (12-25). UTEP finished at 36.2 percent (21-58) overall, including 31.8 percent (7-22) on treys. Barnes keyed the charge from distance, setting career highs for both makes (five) and attempts (nine) from beyond-the-arc.
Corey Camper Jr. joined Barnes in double figures with 13 points while Otis Frazier III pitched in nine points and five rebounds. David Terrell Jr. added seven points and four assists. His 126 dimes this season were the most by a UTEP sophomore since Julyan Stone’s(236, No. 1 on sophomore list, No. 2 regardless of class) in 2008- 09. They also tie as the third most by a UTEP sophomore in program history. Elijah Jones provided a boost from the bench with seven points and five caroms.
Frazier III concludes his illustrious career with the Miners as the 36th member of the program’s 1,000-point club (1,016) including being the 17th at the school to reach the plateau in three seasons or less. He also finishes fourth all time at the school for career steals (178), in addition to joining Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway as the only players in program history to record multiple campaigns with 70+ takeaways.
Kevin Kalu had two points and two boards, and he wraps up his time in the Orange and Blue as a member of the 500-point (542) and 500-rebound club (502). Sharpshooter Baylor Hebb also suited up for the 45th final time of his career in a UTEP uniform, dishing out one of UTEP’s seven helpers in the contest.
“First of all, tip your cap to Liberty. They’ve got a terrific ball club. They’re really good. Somebody is going to have to play really well to beat them down here in Huntsville,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “They’re a terrific team, extremely well coached, and it just got away from us. We turned the ball over too much in the first half, gave them some stuff in transition and allowed them to get to the 3-point line. Then in the second half, in the first four minutes we couldn’t get a stop. Then we went to switching everything one through five, and they just diced us apart. Give them credit, obviously it wasn’t our night.
“I’m proud of the resilience of our team, I’m proud of our locker room. It’s a tough group, it’s a resilient group,” Golding said. “They’ve been a fun group to coach this year. We’ve been through some tough times, obviously through the month of February and some of March. They’ve taught me a bunch of life lessons, and that’s something that I’ll remember.”
Barnes got the Miners on the board first with a left-handed scoop layup. Terrell Jr. then picked the pocket of his defender and went coast-to-coast for the score, before the Flames got a dunk. Kalu answered immediately with a turnaround hook only to have Liberty respond with a 7-1 run to snag a two-point edge (9-7, 14:38, 1H).
Frazier III halted a three-minute scoreless drought and tied the tilt with floater. Liberty buried a 3-pointer on the ensuing trip, but Jones made it a one-point tilt with a long two-pointer. After the Flames nudged it to three, Barnes stepped back and buried the trey to tie things up at 14 (10:53, 1H).
Liberty went right back ahead before Barnes knocked a triple and was fouled. He sank the free throw to complete his fourth four-point play of the campaign and put the Orange and Blue back in front (18-16, 9:36, 1H). The Flames had a response, which came in the form of a 10-0 run to force Golding to call timeout as UTEP trailed by eight (26-18, 6:06, 1H).
Barnes ended the surge with his third trey of the contest. Liberty got a bucket at the other end. Barnes drilled yet another 3-pointer. The Flames struck back with an 8-0 surge, fueled by consecutive treys, to put the Orange and Blue down by 12 (36-24, 2:53, 1H). Two free throws from Derick Hamilton stopped the sequence, and the Miners trailed by 10 (36-26) heading to halftime.
UTEP and Liberty both scored on their first two possessions on the second half. The Flames then drilled a corner 3-pointer to extend the differential to 13 (43-30, 18:02, 2H). Frazier III fought for an offensive board and floated home the loose change, but LU kept hitting shots.
UTEP kept playing hard, but it was unable to get back into the contest as the Flames pulled away.
The Miners conclude the season with 18 victories, giving Golding his third winning campaign in four seasons on the sidelines in the Sun City.
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