UTEP men’s basketball upended by Louisiana Tech, 69-59

EL PASO, Texas -  Elijah Jones (career-high 25 points) and Kaseem Watson (20 points) both had big offensive nights while Jamal West Jr. posted his fourth double-double of the year (10 points, 11 rebounds) but it wasn’t enough as the UTEP men’s basketball team was clipped by LA Tech, 69-59, at the Don Haskins Center Wednesday night.

After a strong start by the Miners (7-14, 3-7 CUSA) that put them ahead by nine (13-4), the Bulldogs (12-8, 5-4 CUSA) found their footing by countering with a 16-2 surge to pull in front.

As it turned out, UTEP would never lead again.

The deficit was nine (36-27) at the break.

LA Tech led by as many as 14 (52-38, 12:20, 2H) at one point, and the Miners couldn’t fully recover.

They showed heart by whittling the margin all the way down to three (61-58, 4:24, 2H), but the visitors were able to hold on. 

“Offensively we weren’t good. We didn’t get back on defense, we gave them some easy looks,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “We didn’t quit, had some fight and gave ourselves a chance there to win late. The first half we dug ourselves a hole and came out in the second half flat as well and they got a 14-point lead. Then, we decided to play a little bit, but you can’t do that in this league.”

UTEP was hindered by an off shooting night, finishing at 31.5 percent (17-54) from the floor.

That included going 8-23 (34.8 percent) from 3-point range. Jones did most of the damage from distance, making a career-most five on eight attempts.

He was also 8-10 at the line. LA Tech connected on 45.3 percent (24-53) of its shots, including 43.8 percent (7-16) from distance.

The Miners tried to offset that by forcing 16 turnovers that led to 23 points, in addition to nailing 17-19 (89.5 percent) at the charity stripe, but it wasn’t enough.

The Bulldogs won the battle of the boards (41-28), in addition to snagging a 22-6 advantage in fastbreak points.

Another factor was the bench scoring, which was in favor of LA Tech to the tune of 22-0.

The Bulldogs got on the board first with a floater to beat the shot clock, but the Orange and Blue blitzed back with five straight. KJ Thomas had a reverse layup before setting up Jones for a triple.

After a bucket from the visitors, UTEP threw a big punch back in the form of an 8-0 surge to prompt a timeout from LA Tech with its advantage at nine (13-4, 15:42, 1H). Watson started it by gliding to the hole as the shot clock wound down. Jones then drilled consecutive 3-pointers.

The visitors responded with a 16-2 surge to put the Orange and Blue down by a five (20-15, 9:35, 1H).

West Jr. brought the Miners within three after a slam only to have back-to-back triples from LA Tech drop, prompting a timeout from Golding. The deficit eventually swelled to 14 (34-20, 3:19, 1H), with the visitors continuing their hot shooting and UTEP in a slump.

The Miners countered by tallying seven straight in the span of less than two minutes to cut the differential in half (34-27, 00:49, 1H). Jones started it by burying his fourth triple of the period. Consecutive layups from Caleb Blackwell and Watson, respectively, capped the surge. Two late free throws from LA Tech ended the surge and made it a nine-point affair (36-27) heading into halftime.

The two sides came out firing in the second half, including yet another triple from Jones, but the Bulldogs managed to stretch the differential to 13 (45-32, 16:16, 2H). UTEP regrouped and responded in the form of a 6-0 run to push to inch within seven (45-38). It was powered by four free throws from Jones, in addition to a layup by West Jr.

The Bulldogs countered with a 7-0 surge in a span of just 1:17 as the Miners fell behind by 14 (52-38) heading to the 12-minute media timeout. A pair of free throws from West Jr. stopped the sequence, but UTEP still was down by double digits.

The deficit remained 13 (55-42) before Watson got cooking. He drilled back-to-back treys, and suddenly UTEP was within seven (55-48, 8:15, 2H). A couple of scores from LA Tech extended its lead to 11 (61-50, 6:49, 2H), but the Miners refused to go quietly into the night. UTEP unleashed an 8-0 run in two minutes to force a timeout from the visitors as the deficit was suddenly only three (61-58, 4:24, 2H). 

The first five points were all at the line, including three straight from Watson after he was hacked while attempting a triple. After another step, Watson stepped into his triple that was nothing but net to put the finishing touches on the surge.

Coupled with misfires by UTEP and free throws from LA Tech, the visitors regained control and were able to hold off the rally.

UTEP wraps up the four-game homestand by challenging Delaware at 7 p.m. MT on Saturday.

Fans who buy a ticket for the women’s game at 2 p.m. vs. NM State can get in free to the men’s tilt.