UTEP Men’s Basketball Rallies Past Delaware For 70-69 Road Win

NEWARK, Delaware -- Kaseem Watson poured in 20 points, including the go-ahead score on an And-1 late, while Jamal West Jr. posted a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) to help lead the UTEP men’s basketball team to a 70-69 victory at Delaware Thursday evening.

Caleb Blackwell (15 points), Elijah Jones (10 points) and KJ Thomas (nine points) also got after things offensively to help the Miners (6-11, 2-4 CUSA) rally past the homestanding Fightin’ Hens (5-12, 1-5 CUSA) for their second win in the past three tilts. It also marked their first road triumph of the campaign.

Delaware led by 10 late in the first half (25-15, 5:41, 1H), and UTEP still trailed by six (36-30) at the break. Undeterred, the Miners opened the second stanza on a 17-9 run to vault ahead. It was back-and-forth the rest of the way. The Hens were up by one (67-66) before Watson diced through traffic for the hoop and harm to vault the Orange and Blue back in front with 55 seconds remaining.

UTEP never relinquished the advantage from that point, with Watson sinking two insurance free throws on a clutch one-and-one opportunity with 15 ticks remaining. Up three (70-67), the Miners wisely fouled to prevent a potential game-tying 3-pointer. Delaware sank two both tosses, and UTEP inbounded the ball and time ran out.  The game featured eight ties and six lead changes.

“It was a tough game with leads changes back and forth, but we were able to make some toughness plays down the stretch,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “We wanted to value the basketball (four turnovers), and I thought that was a big key. The first half we settled a bit offensively. We did a much better job in the second half of getting the ball in the paint. We executed better, and they got out of the zone. We got to 70 points in a low possession game, so that’s definitely a positive.”

Watson flirted with a double-double with eight boards while Jones snagged six of his own. UTEP blocked six shots for the second straight contest, with three from Jones, two from West Jr. and one courtesy of Watson. All five starters logged at least 30 minutes of action.

The Miners shook off a slow shooting start to finish at 46.7 percent from the floor (28-60), including 50.0 percent (16-32, 50.0 percent) after the break. UTEP committed only four turnovers, including just one in the opening frame. Delaware finished at 40.7 percent overall (22-54), including 45.5 percent (10-22) from 3-point range. The Hens committed eight turnovers that led to seven key points for UTEP.

The Miners went 6-9 (66.7 percent) at the charity stripe compared to 15-21 (71.4 percent) by the home side, but they did enough well in other areas to overcome the discrepancy in the department.

Thomas started the game off strong by getting a steal and then going coast-to-coast for the And-1. The home side countered with a 6-0 run, on consecutive 3-pointers, before Watson tied the tilt with a corner triple of his own. UD tallied the next four points to go back in front, and it led by three (13-10, 11:57, 1H) after eight minutes of play. Blackwell erased that deficit by splashing home a triple.

The Hens countered with a mini 5-0 push, using a corner 3-pointer and a dunk to put the Orange and Blue down by five (18-13) before West Jr. slammed it home with one hand in traffic. UD answered with seven straight, with the Orange and Blue suddenly trailing by 10 (25-15, 5:41, 1H).

West Jr. stopped the run with a triple, just his third of the year, after the Hens dared him to shoot it. UD nudged the margin back to eight with a pair of free throws. It remained an eight-point difference (31-23, 2:26, 1H) before UTEP ripped off five straight. Blackwell stepped back for a triple which was followed by a layup for Jones on a nice feed by Watson. Blackwell’s attempt to tie the tilt rimmed out.

A basket for the home side halted the surge, but Blackwell’s basket once again trimmed it to three. The Hens, however, connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the Miners down by six (36-30) going into halftime.

A West Jr. layup, followed by a trey by Blackwell, fueled a 5-0 run to start the second half for UTEP, trimming the margin to one. Delaware punched back with five in a row of its own before Watson filled up a 3-pointer as the two sides went back-and-forth at each other in the opening stages of the frame.

After the Hens regained a five-point cushion (45-40), UTEP regrouped and ripped off seven straight. Jones started things with a layup before five in a row courtesy of Watson. He filled up a 3-pointer and then knocked one down inside the arc to vault the Miners into the lead (47-45, 13:09, 2H).

A mini 6-0 blitz by Delaware allowed it to regain the edge at 51-47. A dunk by Jones and a turnaround, fadeaway jump shot by Watson tied the game. The Hens inched back in front by four (55-51) before two tough shots in the paint from Jones and Thomas, respectively knotted the affair at 55 with eight minutes. UTEP kept coming, with a free throw and then a second-chance finish from West Jr to stretch the run to 7-0. The surge forced a timeout from the Hens, with the Orange and Blue up by three (58-55, 5:13, 2H).

UD got an old-fashioned 3-point play out of the break to halt the run and pull even but Blackwell answered immediately with a 3-pointer. The Hens heaved in a prayer as the shot clock expired, making it 61-61 with about four minutes left in regulation.

Jones drove through the defense and banked home a layup to flip UTEP in front before a UD free throw cut the margin to one (63-62). After Thomas sliced in for a score, the Hens got a layup off their own to once again cut the Miners’ margin to one (65-64, 2:06, 2H). Following a UTEP misfire, Delaware snuck in front by one (66-65, 1:16, 2H) with a layup of its own. Golding called timeout to draw up a play, and it worked to perfection with Watson finishing an And-1 late in the possession to lift UTEP back in front (68-66).

UD had a chance to tie the tilt at the line after a foul, but it split the pair. The Miners rebounded the misfire, eventually setting the stage for the clutch tosses at the stripe for Watson.

UTEP will conclude the roadswing at defending regular-season and tournament champion Liberty at 1 p.m. MT/3 p.m. ET on Jan. 17. Jon Teicher (45th year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso and the UTEP Miners’ App for both games. Each contest will also be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).