UTEP closes out regular season with 83-76 victory over FIU; Miners win third straight

(Courtesy: UTEP Athletics)

EL PASO, Texas - Senior Tae Hardy poured in 26 points (18 in the first half) to make it a special “Senior Night,” as the UTEP men’s basketball team never trailed in an 83-76 vanquishing of FIU in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Don Haskins Center Thursday.

The Miners (16-15, 7-9 CUSA) pounced on the Panthers (10-20, 5-10 CUSA) from the get-go, scoring the game’s first 16 points.

A late push by FIU got the differential to six on a pair of occasions, but UTEP held on for its third straight victory.

It’s the longest winning streak to close out the regular season-since a four-contest surge to end the 2019-20 campaign.

Fellow senior Zid Powell buoyed Hardy by joining him in double digits (17 points), all of which came in the second stanza. Otis Frazier III (11 points, seven rebounds), Kevin Kalu (eight points, eight rebounds), senior Calvin Solomon (seven points, five boards) and Corey Camper Jr. (five points, four caroms) also got after it.

Hardy (five assists) and Powell (five assists) helped facilitate the offense, with UTEP finishing with 19 helpers on 30 field-goals made.

UTEP shot a sizzling 54.5 percent from the floor (30-55) and knocked down 9-15 (60.0) percent from beyond-the arc, with a career-high tying six treys by Hardy keying that effort.

The Miners forced 18 turnovers that led to 22 points, including harassing the visitors into 10 turnovers on their initial 12 possessions as part of the aforementioned 16-0 game-opening run.

It fittingly came on the night that the Orange and Blue-who lead the nation in both steals per game and turnovers per game- set the single-season school record for turnovers forced. The effort helped them break a mark (573) that had stood since the 2007-08 campaign.

FIU’s pressure did give UTEP some challenges, as the Miners committed 23 turnovers, but the home side overcame that with advantages in the other areas. In addition to shooting it better, the Miners won the battle of the boards (40-28), while also being better in the paint (36-20.

The Panthers finished at 43.9 percent (25-57), but they were held to 25.9 percent on 3-point tosses (7-25). Jayden Brewer (23 points) led the way while Arturo Dean (15 points) and Javaunte Hawkins (13 points) also reached double figures in scoring.

“I’m happy for those seniors, I’m proud of all four of those guys,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “I thought the start to the game was terrific tonight. It was 16-0, our crowd got into it. It was awesome to see. Give credit to FIU, they don’t quit. They’ve got a lot of fight in them. It’s hard to play with a big lead like that, and we didn’t do a good job with it. The positive is that we really shared the basketball tonight. We had 19 assists. (Tae) Hardy was special. Zid (Powell) did a good job of going to the rim. We got three wins in a row and are gaining some momentum going into Huntsville."

The Miners bolted out to an 16-0 lead (14:19, 1H), firing on all cylinders on both ends of the court.

The run began with a pair of free throws from Solomon, which was followed by back-to-back 3-pointers by Hardy to make it 8-0.

Kalu then hammered home a two-handed dunk on a no-look find by Hardy on the break, which was followed by a 3-pointer by Camper Jr. (13-0, 15:15, 1H). Hardy then drained his third triple within the first six minutes to make it 16-0. At the other end of the court, UTEP harassed FIU into 10 turnovers on its first 12 possessions of the contest.

The Panthers finally got on the board with a bucket nearly eight minutes into the game, trimming the Orange and Blue’s advantage to 14 (16-2, 12:23, 1H). FIU scored on the next possession before Trey Horton III filled up a 3-pointer to push the Miners’ margin to 15 (19-4, 11:04, 1H).

It remained a 15-point cushion (25-10, 8:00, 1H) following an alley-oop by Kalu before four straight free throws from the visitors. Derick Hamilton halted a mini push with a lay-up following a good catch on the feed from Hardy.

After a dunk by FIU, Hamilton once again had a lay-up on the pass by Hardy. The Panthers continued to fight back, whittling the deficit to nine (34-24, 2:08, 1H), but UTEP answered immediately with back-to-back dunks. The first came on a cut by Camper Jr. on the pass by Hardy, which was followed by an alley-oop by Hardy on the lob from Frazier III.

FIU got a basket, but Hardy ended the first half emphatically by racing down a loose ball in the back court and then unleashing a one-handed windmill dunk to bring the Miner faithful alive. It also afforded UTEP a 14-point cushion (40-26) heading into halftime.

Powell used a nifty head fake to get his defender in the air and then finished with the contact for the old-fashioned 3-point play to start the second half. After FIU split a pair of free throws, Hardy drilled his fifth 3-pointer of the game to lift the home side to a 19-point margin (46-27, 18:48, 2H).

FIU managed to get its offense going a bit, but Powell was even hotter at the other end. He tallied the next seven Miner points, including another And-1.

Frazier III then drained a straightaway 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 25 (58-33, 14:58, 2H).

Two minutes later he brought the roof off the Haskins Center with the alley-oop for a two-handed slam on an And-1 with the lob from Hardy.

FIU kept fighting, with a big run cutting the Miners’ once 26-point lead down to 14 (65-51, 9:19, 2H) and prompting Golding to call timeout.

UTEP broke the press out of the break, with Kalu hammering home a dunk. That score halted the visitor’s momentum.

FIU made a late attempt at a rally, getting within six on two occasions, but the Miners answered both times.

UTEP will partake in the 2024 Conference USA Championships in Huntsville, Ala., (March 12-16) with the Miners' opponent yet to be determined, in addition to the date and time of the contest.

It will be revealed upon the conclusion of league action Saturday. 

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 once that match-up is revealed.

It will also be broadcast on ESPN+ (subscription required).