The UTEP Miners Men's Basketball team survived a 19 point deficit in the second half, and brought home a big home win in front of tens of people. Pandemonium ensued for a solid 6 seconds, as the Miners held on for a 68-62 win, cooking the Rice Owls. Perhaps it was an omen that after scoring 19 total points in the first half... a half we will refuse to acknowledge as a collective, they would be down 19 points early in the second.
The Miners were down 32-19 going into the half, the defense holding steady, the offense as stagnant as the waters in an arroyo in El Paso county. After the intermission the Miners came out 0-3 and at one point in the second half, were down 44-25.
That's when an improbable run happened. Daryl Edwards hit back to back three pointers, an incredible feat for a team that shoots the long ball as bad as the Miners do. The defense clamped down and when it was all said and done, UTEP had drained 6 straight 3's and converted a 4 point play to complete a 19-0 run tying the game up at 44.
With Edwards exploding for 34 total points, Coach Rodney Terry stayed with the same 6 man rotation for the remainder of the game. Edwards and G Souley Boum paced the Miners in minutes played with 40 each and G Jordan Lathon ended the game with 30 minutes played. Eric Vila saw limited time in the second half and Efe Odigie continued to see limited time with only five minutes played.
The Miners were able to overcome committing more fouls and shooting a lower percentage from the field than Rice to complete the comeback and win a must win game to keep their hopes of post-season play afloat.
The Miners host Southern Miss Sunday, March 3rd at 2:00 PM.