UTEP men's basketball teams drops close at Louisiana Tech
The UTEP men's basketball team lost another close game Saturday afternoon at Louisiana Tech in Conference USA action.
The Miners nearly rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit, but fell, 60-58, and the Bulldogs earned a split of the season series. The Miners defeated the Bulldogs, 60-55, in El Paso last month. UTEP had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Tae Hardy's 3-pointer was off the mark.
UTEP falls to 8-7 overall and 1-3 in conference play and Louisiana Tech is 9-6 overall and 2-2 in league play. The Miners have lost four straight games by one point, two points, five points and six points. Two of the losses have been in overtime.
UTEP got within one point on a handful of occasions in the second half but could never take the lead. The Miners missed 9 of 20 free throws and outrebounded the Bulldogs 33-29.
Otis Frazier III led the Miners with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting, Shamar Givance had a strong overall game with 11 points, five assists and four rebounds, Mario McKinney, Jr. scored 10 points and Calvin Solomon had 11 rebounds for the Miners. UTEP got back into the game by limiting the Bulldogs to 31.8 percent shooting in the second half.
Cobe Williams led four Bulldogs in double figures with 17 points, followed by Bullock with 12 points.
Bulldogs control first half
Louisiana Tech made 15 of 28 from the field and 5 of 10 from 3-point range to take a 37-27 halftime lead. UTEP committed 14 turnovers and the Bulldogs turned those into 16 points. Williams led the Bulldogs with 12 points and Quandre Bullock scored 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting. McKinney, Jr. scored eight points to lead the Miners, who were 11 of 21 from the field.
UTEP led for just 2:24 in the first half and the Bulldogs had just eight turnovers.
What the coach said
“That’s your typical Saturday Conference USA slugfest,” UTEP coach Joe Golding said. “Both teams are trying to attack the paint and are really good defensively. We pride ourselves on the defensive end of the floor. The first half cost us the game. We did a good job of controlling the pace. Our margin for error is so small. In close games you’ve got to value the basketball and to make free throws, and we went 11-20 at the line tonight. We are just leaving a lot of points on the board. I challenged them (at halftime), and I thought they responded well. In the second half we fought.”
Up next
UTEP returns home on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off against UTSA and the Bulldogs are at North Texas also on Wednesday.
More: UTEP post finds improvement Defined by loyalty, Ze'Rik Onyema thrives in third year at UTEP
Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP men's basketball teams drops close at Louisiana Tech
