The UTEP men’s non-conference basketball game against Chicago State always had a “why is this on the schedule?” feel to it.
Just in time to save themselves from an embarrassing loss, the Miners found an adequate answer to that question. They may have answered other questions as well.
More: CUSA men’s basketball standings
Trailing 65-61 with 3:15 remaining, UTEP sorted out its offense, scored on seven of eight possessions down the stretch and found a way to a 74-69 victory in their break from Conference USA play.
Quoting the coach
“This is one of those, if we lost this one …,” coach Joe Golding said. “I’m really proud of the guys. This could be a season-changing type win – that confidence, that belief, everything we’re trying to get them to do.”
After going 7-of-15 from the free-throw line in the first 38:30, the Miners made their last eight and forced a miss on a potential tying 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left, heavily contesting Tristan Arneaud’s 21-footer.
The Miners outscored the Cougars 13-4 down the stretch to move to 9-7. Chicago State fell to 7-15 in its 12th road game.
“We needed a turnaround, we’ve been right there in a couple of games, we couldn’t quite pull it out,” said freshman David Terrell, who is starting to break out and scored eight points in 31 minutes, including the go-ahead basket on a drive with 1:40 to play. “That was the emphasis in practice, to have a quick turnaround, on to the next game.
“We were emphasizing getting a stop on the defensive end. They made a couple of tough shots, so we had to play team defense. We locked down in the last couple of minutes.”
How it happened
UTEP went much of the way with four guards on the floor, sometimes also with three freshmen, and predictably got beaten on the boards and gave up a string of layups – Chicago State shot 56 percent from the field – but also forced 27 turnovers.
Down 65-64 with 1:53 remaining, UTEP forced an over-and-back on an inbounds sequence, then got Terrell’s driving layup for the game’s 15th lead change. Corey Camper got a steal and took it the length of the court for a 68-65 lead.
College basketball: NMSU’s first-year basketball program looks ahead of UTEP in 10-point win
From there, the Miners made free throws on all their remaining possessions and got the key stop with 1.7 seconds to play to get a much-needed win.
Tae Hardy led four Miners in double figures with 13 points, Corey Camper Jr. had 11 and Zid Powell had 10. Freshman Trey Horton, who came in 0-of-9 on 3-pointers, made 3-of-5 in this game and finished with a career-high 11 points.
“Things haven’t been going our way, but this one meant a lot: We were at home, it’s a good confidence booster,” Horton said.
“Resilience,” Terrell said. “We never gave up.”
That was just enough for the Miners to get over the top.
Up next
The Miners return to Conference USA play Saturday when they travel to Florida International. The 4 p.m. Mountain time tip will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on 600 ESPN El Paso.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP holds off Chicago State down the stretch
