UTEP Men’s Basketball Derailed At First-Year CUSA Member Missouri State, 79-55

SPRINGFIELD, Missouri -- The UTEP men’s basketball team was defeated at Missouri State, 79-55, Friday Evening.

The Miners (4-9, 0-2 CUSA) were hanging around, trailing by 10 (30-20) with seven-plus minutes to play in the opening stanza, but the Bears (8-5, 2-0 CUSA) ripped off a half-closing 19-3 run to take control of the contest to the tune of 49-23 at the break. UTEP showed plenty of heart by storming out the gates in the second half on a 20-6 surge to fight all the way back within 12 (55-43, 11:05, 2H), but the first-year CUSA members managed to slam the door on the rally and not let the Orange and Blue get any closer.

Missouri State shot a ridiculous 66.7 percent (18-27) in the opening frame before finishing at 53.1 percent (26-49) for the game. The Miners connected on 39.6 percent (19-48), helped by 47.6 percent (10-21) during the second half. UTEP was 13-20 on free throws compared to the home side’s effort of 19-26 (73.1 percent)

Trey Horton III (season-high 12 points), Elijah Jones (12 points) and Jamal West Jr. (11 points) all hit double figures in scoring while Kaseem Watson added nine and KJ Thomas pitched in seven (all at the line). Thomas also dished out a game-high six assists, one shy of his career best. Horton III’s contribution came off the bench, which was aided by going 3-5 from distance.

UTEP took good care of the ball, committing only 11 turnovers. MSU won the boards (31-25), halting a three-game streak in the department for the Miners. Jones (five) and West Jr. (four) were the top rebounders for UTEP.

A quartet of players hit double figures in scoring for MSU, with Kobi Williams leading the charge with 20 points.

“Obviously, we didn’t get off to a good start on both ends of the floor. It’s very, very frustrating. Then it snowballed on us the last eight minutes (of the half). We took a lot of bad shots, quick shots and they got out and ran,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “They made shots, but it’s on us. It starts with coaches. We’ve got to have a better game plan for them. Then, we need effort. It would have been real easy to quit in that locker room, but in the second half we showed a little pride and toughness to come out and compete. It was too little, too late. We’ve got to do a better job of having some resistance in the first half and giving ourselves a chance.”

UTEP trailed, 7-1, two minutes into the tilt before Jones was pure on a 3-pointer after the Miners whipped the ball around to get him a clean look. The Bears countered with back-to-back triples to put the Orange and Blue down by nine (13-4, 17:01, 1H) and force Golding to call timeout. After a couple of empty trips by both sides, three straight scores by MSU pushed the run to 12-0 as the deficit grew to 15 (19-4, 14:31, 1H).

Watson pump faked and sank a jumper to stop the surge and UTEP’s scoreless drought. The Miners forced a stop at the other end, and Watson used an old-fashioned 3-point play on a baseline pullup to make it a personal 5-0 run. That sequence cut the margin to 10 (19-9, 13:21, 1H). Jones followed up his own miss to get his squad within single digits (20-11, 12:20, 1H) only to have MSU immediately answer with its fourth triple in eight minutes. It nudged the difference to 15 (28-13, 9:43, 1H), but Horton III drilled a trey on the next trip.

Following consecutive buckets, Jones hit a shot and Horton III banked home his own miss to once again let the Orange and Blue creep within 10 (30-20, 7:27, 1H). The Bears had a response, though, closing the stanza on a 19-3 run to send the Miners down by 26 (49-23) heading into halftime.

UTEP came out with plenty of energy in the second half, outscoring the Bears by a count of 20-6 over the first nine minutes of the period to whittle the deficit to 12 (55-43, 11:05, 2H). Jones had a pair of emphatic dunks in the stretch, including a putback that he hammered home emphatically. West Jr. also began asserting himself, tallying eight points in the sequence.

MSU nailed a 3-pointer to stop the push and go back up by 15 (58-43), but Horton III sank a triple to counter immediately. The home side responded, reinstating a comfortable cushion as the half wore on. The Miners were unable to string together another rally, with their comeback bid falling short.

UTEP concludes its three-game roadswing to start CUSA play, something that hadn’t happened since 2016-17, when it competes at FIU at 2 p.m. MT/4 p.m. ET on Sunday. JonTeicher (45th year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso and the UTEP Miners’ App for the contest. It will also be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).

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