UTEP men get stingy, open conference with win against Louisiana Tech
A mark of a good team is fixing problems when they arise.
For the UTEP men's basketball team in its Conference USA opener against Louisiana Tech on Saturday night, that meant fixing its defense, especially from the 3-point line.
The Miners' response was to build a fort around the arc and that went as well as could be expected. UTEP held Louisiana Tech to 4-of-25 3-point shooting and controlled the game most of the way in a 60-55 victory.
More:C-USA men's basketball standings
Louisiana Tech shot 29.6% overall as the Miners overcame terrible free throw shooting (15-of-37 to the Bulldogs' 19 of 24) to run their overall record to 7-3. That free-throw shooting discrepancy — next on UTEP's list of things to fix — let Louisiana Tech trim a nine-point deficit to three in the final 1:17 but the Bulldogs never had the ball within three points in the final nine minutes.
What they said
"We just beat a really, really good basketball team and we were 15-of-37 from the free-throw line," coach Joe Golding said. "Why did we beat a really good team? We got back to who we are defensively. We held them to four 3s, they shot 29 percent from the floor and we had some toughness plays, multiple effort plays all night.
"That's growth with our locker room. There are a lot of teams across the country that lose this game. The lesson I'll share is there's a way to win every game. Even if you don't make 3s, even if you don't make free throws, there's a way to win a game. That's what I'm proud of."
The team said defense was the priority.
"It was a great day for us, we got back to our identity," said Carlos Lemus, who was the fourth player off the bench and contributed eight points in his biggest game as a Miner. "We guarded the ball very well. La. Tech did a great job offensively, they played really hard, today was a tough game."
Tae Hardy led the way with 15 points for a team that broke a six-game losing streak in Conference USA openers.
"We went away from our identity the last couple of games, we got back to it," Hardy said. "That's our main goal, no 3s with our defense."
In UTEP's two previous losses to New Mexico State and DePaul, opponents shot 51 percent on 3s.
How it went
UTEP took the lead for good in the middle of the first half, then stretched a 43-40 lead to 52-42 entering the stretch. The Miners were still up 57-48 when Shamar Givance (six assists) made one of two free throws with 1:31 left.
After that, UTEP made 3-of-12 free throws when it was trying to close the game and also committed a series of fouls that let Louisiana Tech reach the line, where it was a solid 7-of-10 in the final 1:06.
With the lead down to 58-55 with 12 seconds remaining, Otis Frazier, in his first game back from injury, missed a free throw, then made the second to make it a two-possession game.
"Credit to Otis late," Golding said. "He missed the first one, we were 14-of-36 from the line, then he stepped up and made a big one. There was toughness stuff in there."
Stars of the game
Golding also saw toughness from Lemus, who has been at the end of UTEP's rotation all season.
"I thought that was the guy we recruited," Golding said. "He was hurt all summer, he was hurt in the fall, he didn't have consistent practices, then he gets back healthy and he's having a hard time finding a role within our team. I jumped him pretty hard at DePaul, we had a great talk this week one-on-one.
"I thought he was terrific, especially in the second half. I thought he was really, really good."
So was Mario McKinney, who got his first start and had seven points and four rebounds.
What also impressed Golding was what came after the game.
"Our guys had joy," Golding said. "They were dancing around, having fun. It was good to see that, I've been waiting for that, to see them have fun, let loose."
Up next
UTEP opens the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational with a scheduled 7:30 p.m. Wednesday tip against North Carolina A&T. That game will follow the 5:30 p.m. tip between New Mexico State and Kent State.
Louisiana Tech hosts Jarvis Christian on Wednesday.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP men get stingy, open conference with win vs. Louisiana Tech
