UTEP tops Charlotte, 60-58; Miners secure first road win of the season

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - The UTEP men’s basketball team overcame a 13-point first half deficit on the way to handing Charlotte its first home loss of the season with a 60-58 victory at Halton Arena Monday afternoon.

The Miners (10-8, 3-4 C-USA) wrapped a 16-2 run around halftime to turn a 25-20 deficit into a 36-27 (18:27 2H) advantage that they would never relinquish to the 49ers (12-5, 3-4 C-USA).

Charlotte got within one but UTEP’s defense held the line.

The final example of that was forcing the 49ers to misfire on four shots in the final 24 seconds, including a desperation 3-pointer with two seconds left to set off a celebration on the UTEP sideline.

Tae Hardy (game-high 19 points), Calvin Solomon (10 points) and Jon Dos Anjos (season-high tying 10 points) all reached double figures in scoring for the Orange and Blue, who connected on 49.0 percent (24-49) from the floor.

UTEP was 6-13 (46.2 percent) on 3-point tosses, with three by Hardy.

The Miners also took great care of the ball by committing only nine turnovers, which allowed them to overcome Charlotte winning the boards (28-23) and shooting 47.8 percent (22-46).

The 49ers also hit six triples.

Mario McKinney Jr. (eight points) buoyed the efforts of Dos Anjos off the pine, helping the Orange and Blue hold a 23-18 differential in bench scoring.

Charlotte was paced by 11 points from Jackson Threadgill, who was the lone 49er to reach double figures.

UTEP locked up the 49ers’ leading scoring Brice Williams, keeping him to eight points on 3-9 shooting.

“I’m just happy for our guys, it’s been a brutal three to four weeks,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “Tough times pass, but tough people last. We had growth (today). We stayed together, handled some adversity and were the tougher team. Our team played the game the right way today. They played for each other; the bench was incredible. There was no selfishness tonight. There was no hanging our heads. We fought through some adversity and when you do that, good things are going to happen.

“They’re (Charlotte) a really good team and they have really good players,” Golding said. “This was a heck of an atmosphere here tonight. There was a lot of good energy. When they got back in the game, we had to settle in. I’m proud of our guys.”

Charlotte connected on back-to-back treys to grab an early 6-0 lead before a good, patient move in the post from Ze’Rik Onyema got the Miners on the board.

The 49ers responded with an And-1 and another triple to extend the advantage to 12-2 (15:35 1H), but a long jumper from Hardy halted the push.

Charlotte countered with a lay-up to put UTEP down 10 again (14-4, 14:28 1H) heading into the first media timeout.

The 49ers eventually drove their margin to 13 (19-6, 12:25), and they were still up by 10 (23-13) with just 10 minutes remaining in the period.

UTEP kept its composure and ripped off a 7-0 run to get right back into the game.

It started when McKinney Jr. was trapped in the corner on a double team, but in a nifty play he found a cutting Dos Anjos who tapped it to Sibley for the slam.

After a stop, Solomon soared between the defense to tip in a missed shot.

UTEP then forced a backcourt violation and Hardy buried a triple at the other end to make it a one-possession game (23-20, 7:18 1H).

The differential was one (26-25) in favor of the home side with four minutes remaining in the stanza, but UTEP used an 8-1 half-closing surge to carry a 33-27 cushion into the locker room.

A lightning-quick crossover from Givance that led to a lay-up ignited the stretch.

Solomon then poked away a pass on an inbounds play and went coast-to-coast for a rim-rattling dunk.

A corner triple from Sibley capped the sequence, which was part of a bigger 13-2 run.

Hardy drilled a 3-pointer on UTEP’s opening possession of the second half, affording the Miners a nine-point differential (36-27) and concluding the 16-2 wraparound run.

The lead was still nine (38-29, 17:42 2H), but Charlotte used a mini 6-1 run to cut the edge to four (39-35).

The 49ers kept coming, creeping within one (43-42), but a sneaky turnaround floater in the paint from McKinney inched the lead back out to three (45-42, 12:20 2H).

The Miners were up by two (49-47) when Charlotte misfired on two free throws.

UTEP took advantage, with Dos Anjos burying a triple to put it out by five (52-47, 6:26 2H).

After the 49ers inched within three again, the Orange and Blue came up with a steal and score in transition to force a Charlotte timeout with the Miners leading, 56-51 (4:09 2H).

Hardy snuck a bounce pass to a cutting Dos Anjos who slammed it home.

A putback by Solomon allowed UTEP to push the lead to seven (58-51, 3:10 2H), but the 49ers ripped off five straight to cut the advantage to two (58-56, 1:07 2H).

McKinney Jr. ended the stretch with two clutch free throws, but the 49ers hit two at the other end to make it a two-point game again (60-58, 51.5 seconds).

Those would prove the be the final points of the affair, with UTEP riding a wave of defense down the stretch to secure its first road win of the season.

UTEP returns to El Paso for a two-game homestand against FIU (Thursday- 7 p.m.) and league-leading No.24 Florida Atlantic (Saturday-7 p.m.).

Jon Teicher (42nd year) and Steve Yellen (20th year) will be on the call on “The Home of UTEP Basketball” 600 ESPN El Paso for each game.

Both contests will be streamed nationally on ESPN+. Tickets are available by visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/Tickets or by calling (915) 747-UTEP.