UTEP dominates Bearcats to earn third place title

Gallery • 7 Photos

The UTEP Miners took to the hardwood to play in the consolation game of the Weststar Bank Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational as they beat Sam Houston State 87-68. Unlike the last few games for UTEP, this game was not close since the first six minutes of the opening tipoff.

The Miners (7-5) took to this game trying to avoid dropping their sixth straight game and going winless in the tournament for the first time since the 2002-2003 season.

“We were pleased with the win but we are not going to go crazy with it,” coach Tim Floyd said. “We understand that we still have a long way to go as a basketball team.”

In a less than impressive showing of UTEP fans at the Don Haskins center, the Miners took the floor against Sam Houston State, almost desperate to get a place on the podium.

After Sam Houston got off to a quick 4-0 run in the first two minutes of the game, The Miners got their first points of the night and got back to moving the ball on offense.

The Miners quickly flipped the scoreboard after going on a 19-0 run, which helped the Miners build a 23-4 lead. Sam Houston finally got a point on the board with 12 minutes to go in the half.

“It was defensive stops, it was open floor play, it was next easy pass,” Floyd added. “We kept them out of the lane they had to settle for jump shots. We were very good in the open floor in terms of decision making, probably the best we have been this whole year.”

The Miners capitalized from rebounds in the first half, The Miners out rebounded the Bearkats by seven rebounds. The Miners were able to keep a lead during the first half in part to the fast break; the Miners went 5-0 with fast break points. The Miners were also able to keep their field goal right at 50% to help take the Miners to the half 45-30.

Though this game did not take the form of a team completely dominating the other, the Miners were able to keep their lead from the first half. The Miners had three players in double-digit points with over 11 minutes to play still in the second half. The leader among them was Lee Moore with 17 points on this game.

The Miners were able to hold off many of Sam Houston States efforts to catch up as the dominated on the rebound portion of the game. In the entire game the Miners out rebounded Sam Houston State by six rebounds.

They kept most of their shooting percentages at over 50 percent during the entire game. They shot 50 from the floor, 46.2% from the three- point line, and 67.9 from the free throw line. Sam Houston state’s highest percentage shot did not break 50% and their highest stat was free throws with 45.0% on the game.
After the holiday break, the Miners will face off UT Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday, Dec. 29 in the Haskins Center. This will be the final game before Conference USA play.

“I’m hoping that we can grow from this game,” Floyd said. “We’re a new group trying to figure it out right now, and maybe we took a step in that direction.”​

Juan Carlos Navarrete can be reached at [email protected]