The UTEP men’s basketball team’s most obvious path to victory against Tarleton, the one that promised a downhill run, was clear.
The Miners came into the game first in the nation out of 355 Division teams in forcing turnovers; the Texans came in first in giving the ball away the most.
UTEP’s biggest strength against Tarleton’s biggest weakness was indeed the difference in a 67-62 victory Monday night that ran UTEP’s record to 7-3. Tarleton fell to 3-9 in a return to the Don Haskins Center for coach Billy Gillispie, who coached UTEP from 2002-04.
More: CUSA men’s basketball standings
Tarleton’s 18 turnovers was actually two below its average, but the Miners won points off those turnovers 24-11, which was enough to keep them in the lead throughout.
The Texans did close within 61-59 in the final minute, but with 35 seconds to play Corey Camper drove the lane and drew a goaltending call that kept the Miners in front. Otis Frazier had a block and rebound on the other end to keep the lead at four.
Frazier finally put it away with free throws with 0.7 seconds to play. Frazier scored 187 points to lead UTEP on 8-of-8 free-throw shooting. Camper scored 11 and Ahamad Bynum had 10.
Tarleton outshot UTEP 49-42%, so the turnovers were the difference that allowed the Miners to attempt six more field goals.
Miners lead by 9 at half
UTEP won points off turnovers 15-3 in the first half, accounting for the 32-23 lead the Miners took to the locker room.
UTEP made its first three 3-point attempts as it raced out to a 17-4 lead, though Tarleton answered with the next eight points and hung around for the rest of the first half. Corey Camper led the Miners with nine first-half points.
Because of the 11 turnovers UTEP forced in the first half, the Miners took six more shot attempts, enabling them to build a lead despite only having a 44-42% in shooting.
Up next
The UTEP men continue their home swing when the Don Haskins Center hosts the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational this weekend. UTEP’s first game is Friday at the scheduled time of 7 p.m. against Jackson State. Earlier that day, Akron and Yale play a 5 p.m. tip so that UTEP start time will almost certainly be later than 7 p.m.
The UTEP game will be carried on 600 ESPN El Paso.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP men’s basketball hold off Tarleton State
