Rice floater at the buzzer hands UTEP men's basketball 83-82 loss

Rice guard Travis Evee's floater from the left side of the baseline as time expired gave Rice an 83-82 win against UTEP in Conference USA men's basketball action Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston.

The Miners went up 82-81 on a pair of Tae Hardy free throws with 6.3 seconds left after the Miners came up with a big turnover, but Evee took the inbounds pass and raced down the court to get his shot off in time.

The Miners fall to 9-8 overall and 2-4 in league play, Rice is 12-5 and 3-3 in league play. Rice sweeps the season series against the Miners and won 72-67 in overtime last month in El Paso. UTEP has lost five of six but all have come down to the wire, including a one-point loss to Kent State, a two-overtime loss to UAB and a two-point loss Louisiana Tech.

The Minere up three at halftime but Rice was on fire from the field and went ahead 66-57 before the Miners kept battling to take the late one-point lead.

“We gave ourselves a chance but (Evee) hit a tough shot,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “I’m impressed with the hustle play Tae Hardy had and then the one Calvin (Solomon) had right here (by the UTEP bench) to give us a chance. It was just multiple effort plays. The guys fought back and competed, and that’s what you like to see as a coach."

The Owls made 16 of 25 field goals in the second half and 6 of 14 from 3-point range. Overall, the Owls made 10 from 3-point range total and outscored the Miners by 18 from that part of the floor.

Quincy Olivari led the Owls with 23 points, followed by Evee with 21 points to lead four players in double figures. The Miners, who made 35 of 70 from the field, outrebounded Rice by three and forced 19 turnovers were led by Hardy's 20 points. He made all four of UTEP's 3-pointers and was 6 of 13 from the field. Shamar Givance played outstanding with 16 points and 10 assists, Mario McKinney, Jr. scored 14 points and Calvin Solomon added 12 points. Eleven players scored for the Miners in the game.

“There haven’t been many nights we haven’t guarded,” Golding said. “Tonight, we didn’t guard the way we’re capable of guarding. It’s going to be tough for us to win games when we give up 83 points. We are going to continue to lay it on the line and keep competing. I feel for our team, they deserve better. We’re going to keep fighting. We’ve got some tough dudes in there.”

Tight first half

The Miners led 41-38 at halftime and led by as many as 10, 35-25. The Miners had 10 players score in the first half, but were outscored 12-3 from 3-point range. Givance led UTEP with eight points and five assists. The Miners outrebounded Rice, 20-13. The 41 points scored were the most by UTEP in the first half against a Division I opponent this season.

Rice made 13 of 26 from the field and was led by Quincy Olivari with 11 points and seven rebounds. He made 2 of 3 from 3-point range.

Up next

The Miners stay on the road and are at Charlotte at 2 p.m. Monday before returning home Thursday and Saturday.

More: UTEP knocks off UTSA UTEP tough down the stretch, snaps four-game losing streak against UTSA

Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @FChavezeptimes on Twitter

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Rice floater at the buzzer hands UTEP men's basketball another loss