UTEP held off at Western Kentucky, 78-74
BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky - The UTEP men’s basketball team went back-and-forth with WKU before succumbing late in a 78-74 road setback inside E.A. Diddle Arena Thursday evening.
The game featured nine ties and 10 lead changes, with the Miners (15-6, 5-3 CUSA) unleashing a 10-0 run to vault ahead of the Toppers (13-8, 4-4 CUSA) by five (59-54, 10:19, 2H) midway through the second half.
UTEP was still ahead (68-66) with 3:06 to play only to have WKU score the next six points, and the Miners never led again.
They did have a chance to tie things at 72 apiece with 1:22 left after Frazier III was fouled but still hit the 3-pointer.
The free throw to complete the four-point play and tie the tilt didn’t go, however.
WKU scored the next four points in the contest, and it held on for the win.
David Terrell Jr. registered 15 points to go along with a career-high eight assists to pace a quartet of Miners in double figures.
Frazier III (11 points, seven rebounds), Devon Barnes (11 points, three steals), and Elijah Jones (10 points) supported him, but UTEP sustained its first loss this season (10-1) when having four or more players in double digits for scoring. Along with Jones, Baylor Hebb provided a lift off the bench with season-high eight points before fouling out. Ahamad Bynum, starting in place of Corey Camper Jr., contributed eight points while Kevin Kalu netted seven points and six rebounds.
UTEP finished at 41.1 percent (23-56) from the floor while also knocking down 79.2 percent (19-24) at the charity stripe. The Miners connect on 9-26 (34.6 percent) from distance, with two each from Barnes, Bynum, Frazier III and Hebb.
UTEP recorded 14 steals while forcing 18 turnovers that led to 20 points, but WKU overcame that by nailing 55.6 percent (30-54) from the field. Khristian Lander (28 points) and Don McHenry (20 points) keyed the charge for the Toppers.
“We gave ourselves a chance. With under four minutes, we had the lead,” UTEP had coach Joe Golding said. “Give them credit. They executed down the stretch. We just didn’t have an answer for those two guys (Lander and McHenry). We just couldn’t get the big stop we needed. They made a run to start the second half and get up by nine and then we answered. Again, we gave ourselves a chance. We came on the road to a tough place to play, but we just didn’t execute (late).”
UTEP got out of the gates with an early 5-0 lead, taking advantage of a trio of turnovers by WKU.
Terrell Jr. came up with a steal and finished in transition. Kalu, after splitting a pair of free throws, then hooked home a shot deftly.
The Toppers countered with an 8-0 run to grab their first lead of the contest (8-5, 15:43, 1H).
Barnes ended the surge when he was fouled on a 3-pointer from the left wing. The shot didn’t go, but he made all three tosses at the charity stripe to tie the tilt at eight. WKU inched back in front at 11-8 before Jones blocked a shot. UTEP then raced up the court where Barnes buried a corner 3-pointer to even things up at 11.
WKU moved it out to a four-point differential (17-13, 9:55, 1H), but the Miners had a response. It came with a 7-0 blitz spanning about two minutes.
Barnes kicked it off with his second triple of the tilt on the find by Terrell Jr.
The point guard then scored the final four points of the push. He knocked down a pull-up jumper after a Toppers’ turnover.
Hebb then hit the deck to force snag the loose ball and start a fast break, which Terrell Jr. finished in transition with a lay-up.
UTEP was up by four (23-19, 7:16, 1H) before the home side tallied five in a row to sneak back ahead by one. A pair of free throws from Hebb was followed by Jones somehow catching a near full-court pass in traffic and laying it. That allowed the Miners to move ahead by three (27-24, 5:38, 1H).
It was still a three-point affair (30-27, 3:08, 1H), but WKU had another 5-0 mini run. UTEP tied the game at 32 following two free throws from Kalu, but it went into the locker room down 34-32 after a jumper from the home side late in the half.
The Toppers opened the second half on an 8-1 run to suddenly put the Orange and Blue down nine, forcing Golding to call timeout. UTEP executed nicely with the set play out of the break, resulting in a 3-pointer from Frazier III to stop the push and cut the deficit to six (42-36, 18:15, 2H).
After WKU moved it back to eight, the Miners cut the deficit in half with a Barnes lay-up and two free throws from Terrell Jr. Hebb then answered a 3-pointer after the home side drilled one.
UTEP crept within two (47-45) after Derick Hamilton, who was fouled on an offensive putback try, sank two free throws. The home side answered with a pair of tosses of their own, but Hamilton banked home a left-handed shot to once again make it a two-point differential.
It was back-and-forth over the next several minutes, with WKU holding a five-point advantage (54-49, 10:47, 2H) before Jones drilled a 3-pointer. Terrell Jr. then picked off the inbounds pass and scored to tie the game, with UTEP scoring five points in a span of 11 seconds.
The Miners weren’t done, though, as Bynum put together his own personal 5-0 run with a 3-pointer and reverse lay-up high off the glass. That surge capped a 10-0 run and put the Orange and Blue ahead by five (59-54,10:19, 2H), but the Toppers responded. They scored the next eight points on the way to going back ahead by three (62-59, 6:58, 2H).
It was still a three-point difference (64-61, 6:22, 2H) when Hebb knocked down an open 3-pointer to tie the affair. Frazier III’s driving lay-up sent the Miners back in front (68-66, 3:06, 2H). WKU ripped off a 6-0 run to take the lead, and the home side never trailed from that point.
With the deficit at four (72-68, 1:39, 2H), Frazier III was fouled while knocking down a corner 3-pointer. His free throw to tie the game at 72 with 1:22 remaining didn’t go down. WKU scored the next four points, and UTEP couldn’t claw back.
The Miners will look to bounce back when they play at Middle Tennessee at 1 p.m. MT/2 p.m. CT on Saturday. Jon Teicher (44th year) will be on the call on "The Home of UTEP Basketball" 600 ESPN El Paso, with audio also airing on the UTEP Miners app. The contest will also stream on ESPN+ (subscription required).