UTEP basketball recap: Golden Hurricane frontcourt too much for smaller Miners

Tulsa scores nearly half of its points from charity stripe in 86-79 OT win over UTEP

CUSA Fans UTEP Correspondent Robert Robles brings you a recap of the basketball game between UTEP and Tulsa.

It is one thing for a team to shoot 43 free throws, but it is abnormal for it to make 40 of them. That is exactly what Dave Wojcik’s Golden Hurricanes did Saturday night in Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane knocked off Tony Barbee’s Miners in overtime, winning a physical "turnoverfest", 86-79, at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa. With the victory, Tulsa improves to 12-3 (2-0) while UTEP fell to 10-7 (2-1) with the loss.

As the game went on, a bigger Tulsa team wore down guard-oriented UTEP. In addition to the aforementioned free throws, there were some other very lopsided and revealing statistics that indicated such a physical mismatch took place. UTEP only managed to shoot 38 percent from the floor. The Miners were outrebounded, 39-31, and had 13 of their shots blocked. Both teams combined for a whopping 47 turnovers, 21 of which were committed by the Miners. 14 of the 26 turnovers committed by Tulsa were steals forced by the Miners.

Stefon Jackson led the Miners with a game high 18 points and 5 rebounds before fouling out in the overtime period. Kevin Henderson followed with 14 points and 6 rebounds while Marvin Kilgore finished with 13 points, 3 rebounds, and a single assist. Malik Alvin also finished the night in double digits with 12 points to go along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Ray Reese led the victorious Golden Hurricane, coming off the bench to score 16 points and grab nine rebounds. Three other Tulsa players finished in double digits: Sam Mitchell with 15, Ben Uzoh with 14, and Charles Ramsdell with 13.

With the win, Tulsa stays a perfect 12-0 at home this season and has now won 15 consecutive games at the Reynolds Center. For the Miners, layups and free throw shooting will more than likely be the emphasis in practice for the next couple days as the failure to convert resulted in UTEP failing to garner a solid conference road win.