UTEP men rout Northern New Mexico in final tuneup before Conference USA play

Posted by Admin December 29, 2024 Basketball

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To answer the obvious question, UTEP men’s basketball coach Joe Golding scheduled Northern New Mexico, an NAIA school that fell to 4-18 after a 79-60 loss to the Miners, because he didn’t want to open Conference USA Thursday coming off a two-week layoff.

To the list of things UTEP got out of the expected rout, the Miners emptied their bench early, saw Otis Frazier flirt with a quadruple-double for a half and generally did what they were expected to do in the decisive first half against an outmatched opponent.

That got the Miners to 10-3 and feeling good about themselves as they prep for the part of the season that matters.

Quoting coach Joe Golding

“There were some good things, and it was really sloppy,” coach Joe Golding said after his team got off to its best start for a season in 14 years. “It gets us a game before conference play.

“You’re off for five days; we had one day of practice and a shootaround. You could tell it was sloppy. We have to get back in shape. That’s why I wasn’t going crazy over there. You have to get them some minutes; you have to get them going. Our guys know they have to play a heck of a lot better next Thursday.

How it went

Frazier finished the night with 12 points, six rebounds, seven assists and seven steals despite playing limited minutes in the second half. Corey Camper led the Miners with 15 points.

UTEP forced 27 Eagle turnovers and turned those into 28 points. They pushed the lead past 20 with 5 minutes left in the first half and cruised home.

Quoting the Miners

“We had to come in ready to play; we had to get back in shape from winter break,” Camper said. “Compete.”

Frazier said he enjoyed the night

“It was fun. It’s always fun to play a good team at home,” he said. “I think we’re in great shape. We’re 10-3, there are some things need to clean up, but I like where we’re at right now.”

Miners up 47-22 at half

UTEP won points off turnovers 18-2 in the first 20 minutes after forcing 17 in the first half. After giving up the first three points of the game, it rolled out to a quick, big lead.

Frazier went to halftime with seven points, four rebounds, six assists and five steals, with a number of those steals starting fast breaks that ended with a Frazier assist. UTEP even won rebounding in the first half, 19-17, an indicator that matters were going well indeed.

Northern New Mexico was within 17-9 with 14:12 to play in the first half, but were held scoreless for more than 4 minutes as the Miners stretched the lead to 39-14.

Up next

The Miners tip off Conference USA play Thursday at home against Louisiana Tech. The 7 p.m. tip will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on 600 ESPN El Paso.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.