UTEP battles against No. 14 Kansas but falls late
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The UTEP men’s basketball team sprung the trap Thursday night, but No. 14 Kansas escaped.
The Miners led for more than 37 minutes at Allen Fieldhouse against a Jayhawks team coming off an upset of No. 2 and unbeaten Baylor, but Kansas overcame a 14-point deficit in the final 12:20, scored the final five points in the last 21 seconds and beat UTEP 67-62.
Now the Miners will focus on a bigger picture, turning their best game of the year into more when they start the Conference USA tournament next Wednesday.
How it happened
After letting a big lead get away, UTEP overcame Kansas’ first advantage with 1:30 left when two Souley Boum free throws leveled the score at 62. Boum had a chance to give UTEP the lead with 42 seconds left but he missed a 3-pointer and the Miners’ moment passed.
Kansas’ Marcus Garrett drove the basket with 21 seconds left, and Bryson Williams, who had four fouls, couldn’t risk a fifth. Garrett made the winning layup.
UTEP raced back down the court, but Boum lost the ball with 18 seconds to go. Kansas made three free throws to ice the game.
Quoting the coach
“We came out with good energy and good activity, we were really guarding, we did a great job blocking out, we did a great job taking care of the basketball in the first half,” coach Rodney Terry said. “We knew in the second half they would rev up their defense, we had to be strong with the ball and make physical plays in the post.
“We did that for the better part of the second half and we had a wide-open 3 from our best shooter. But give (Kansas) credit, they battled through it.”
UTEP had four turnovers in the first half leading to two Kansas points, then 10 turnovers in the second half, leading to 16 Kansas points. At one point in the second half when the big lead got away, UTEP had three straight turnovers and Kansas scored six points in 1:02 to trim a nine-point deficit to three.
“That was a game-changer,” Terry said. “I don’t make a lot of complaints about the officiating but we should have been at the foul line with 12 minutes left in the game. It’s hard to drive the ball, it’s hard to get things done when you’ve got two hands on you for 40 minutes and we can’t get a call. That’s ridiculous.
“If they can climb up on you and get their hands on you, it’s hard to execute.”
Slipping away
The Miners, in particular a dominant Williams, controlled the first 28 minutes and were on the verge of one of the biggest wins in the last two decades when Williams got in foul trouble and the game turned.
Kansas’ David McCormack was quiet to that point, but scored 10 consecutive Kansas points as the Jayhawks cut a 55-46 deficit with 7:10 left to 55-54 with 5:00 to play.
Kansas shot 27 percent in the first half, including making one of its first 12 shots when UTEP took a quick 13-2 lead they held for 37 minutes. Kansas shot 57 percent in the second half.
Stars of the game
UTEP was in position because of 23 points and 13 rebounds from Williams. His foul trouble, however, keyed the Kansas comeback. Boum finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Tydus Verhouven had six rebounds and a Miner career-high five blocks.
For Kansas, McCormack had 16 of his 18 points in the second half and Ochai Agbaji had 19.
Up next
UTEP will begin the Conference USA tournament Wednesday evening in Frisco with its seed and opponent dependent on makeup games this weekend.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP battles against No. 14 Kansas but falls late