An intense back and forth between UTEP men’s basketball (17-12, 7-9 Conference USA) and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (20-9, 11-5 Conference USA) took place on March 1. Both on top of their game, UTEP led Middle Tennessee for the first 35 minutes into the final moments of the game. Senior forward Otis Frazier III would help send the game into overtime after two crucial 3-pointers from the Blue Raiders. The Miners would ultimately fall to the Blue Raiders in overtime marking UTEP’ s first “Senior Day” loss in five years.
UTEP Head Coach Joe Golding gave credit where it was due for the Miners and their hustle against Middle Tennessee.
“I just feel for our guys, I thought they gave it everything that they had,” Golding said. “Give them credit, they hit big shots, they made some good plays. We’ve got to get to the finish line, I thought it was a good college basketball game.”
The Blue Raiders came out strong, with a quick lead of 4-0 out of the gate. From there, the back and forth started promptly with each team scoring vigorously. The Miners knew they had to turn up the heat offensively, prompting Frazier and senior forward Kevin Kalu to ignite that fuse.
The team followed suit, with junior guard Ahamad Bynum making a 3-pointer pulling UTEP to tie at 7. Soon, with shooting help from junior guard Devon Barnes, the Miners were able to slowly but surely work their way up the scoreboard to catch up.
Bynum would eventually knock down a jumper to put UTEP up five points, but a late 3-pointer from the Blue Raiders would put the score 33-31 by the end of the first half.
The second half would start with a boom from the Miners with an alley-oop from Kalu. However, the tight competition in the previous two quarters would follow into the third too.
A burst of five straight points from UTEP would help throw off Middle Tennessee. Kalu would slam a shot from the paint, with a triple from Bynum quickly after. Soon a timeout would be called from Middle Tennessee, but this didn’t stop Kalu from squeezing in one more dunk for good measure. Frazier, Bynum, Kalu and senior guard Corey Camper Jr. would all work to get the points up for UTEP. The score would then be 60-64, with UTEP just points away from the lead.
With high stakes, the Blue Raiders continued to have a slight tilt on the scoreboard. The game would soon go into overtime and the Miners would score four points.
After a time out and hustle from Frazier, Middle Tennessee came back with four points of their own. The Miners were tough to the end but a tight crucial layup from the Blue Raiders would secure the opposing team’s win in the final seconds of the game.
Kalu made a career-high of 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Frazier and Bynum both reached double figures and sophomore guard David Terrell Jr. had a game high of six assists. Camper would also help with seven points, three assists and four boards.
The Miners will head back on the road one final time to play against Sam Houston on March 6.
H. Catching Marginot is a contributor and can be reached at hcmarginot@miners.utep.edu.
