Throughout the last month, the UTEP men’s basketball team looked like it was ready for a road breakthrough. Come close enough times, give yourself enough chances, sooner or later, fate takes a turn.
For the suddenly surging Miners, that time came Wednesday night, Feb. 11, at Jacksonville State.
UTEP gained some breathing room with a late 15-3 run, then held off a Gamecocks comeback to come away with a 69-64 victory that took a huge step toward the Conference USA tournament.
What win means for UTEP men
With the upset win, the Miners improved to 6-8 in Conference USA and 10-15 overall after their first back-to-back victories since the first weeks of the season against Division II and NAIA competition. Jacksonville State, which entered the game in second place in CUSA, fell to 8-4, 13-11 overall, and is now 5-2 in home league games.
UTEP is now 2-5 on the road (it did beat last-place Delaware early on the road), and this was impressive.
This game featured 12 lead changes and seven ties, as the final lead change came in the final 9:00. UTEP trailed 52-49, then, right about the time it started to fade in previous close road losses, the Miners charged.
By the end of a 15-3 run, UTEP was up 64-55 with 4:47 to play. Jax State cut that to 64-62 with 2:19 remaining, but Jamal West Jr. scored a second-chance basket to stop the run, and UTEP only gave up two free throws the rest of the way.
Quoting coach Joe Golding
“Credit to our guys,” coach Joe Golding said afterward. “We had a tough start to conference play (UTEP was 0-3), we dug ourselves a big hole, it would have been easy to quit. Our backs were to the wall, everyone was against us.
“This team stuck together. You can see it in the last three weeks, starting to come together. The win the other night (in overtime against New Mexico State Saturday), belief is a powerful word in athletics and our guys are starting to believe right now.”
The Miners checked the big box they needed to with four players in double figures: Caleb Blackwell and Elijah Jones each had 16, Kaseem Watson scored 12 and Jamal West had 10.
Miners have edge in 3-pointers
UTEP made 11-of-25 3-pointers to Jacksonville State’s 8-of-18, which accounted for much of the difference. The Miners also had 11 steals and were only outrebounded 30-27.
“It was a toughness game, that’s where I’m proud of the guys,” Golding said. “That’s where we haven’t been this year, very tough and grimy. Tonight there were a lot of plays with toughness and physicality and we won that battle.”
The moment was coming for weeks and finally arrived.
Up next
UTEP gets its shot at league-unbeaten Liberty Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Don Haskins Center on national television. The unusual noon tip at the Don Haskins Center will be televised on ESPN2.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP men break through on the road, upset Jacksonville State
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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