UTEP vs. New Mexico basketball recap

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this fall to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA sports coverage. Today, our new UTEP Correspondent Robert Robles brings you a recap of the basketball game between UTEP and New Mexico.

It seems as though the Miners have found their identity on both offensive and defensive side of the ball. Going into halftime, nobody would have predicted that the very young and new coaching-styled UTEP Miner team would be leading the undefeated New Mexico Lobos 50-34 in the Don Haskins Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Miners shot 50 percent from the line, going 30-of-60, while shooting 77 percent from the free throw line. The Lobos shot at an abysmal 38 percent from the field (21-55), which may have been a direct result of a strong defensive effort by the UTEP players, and shot just 69 percent from the free throw line, going 16-of-23.

The leading scorers for UTEP were Stefon Jackson with 25, Jeremy Sampson with 15, and Marvin Kilgore with 11. Overall, UTEP had 4 players in double digits.

On the New Mexico side of the ball, the leading scorers were JR Giddens with 16, and Tony Danridge with 14 points. They were the only two players from the Lobo team to reach double digits in scoring.

The Miners out rebounded the Lobos in a big way, grabbing 41 rebounds compared to 26. The Miners only turned the ball over 11 times, and the Lobos only 10. Both teams committed 20 personal fouls each with no players fouling out.

The Miners improve to 4-3 on the year with the win on Sunday, coming off of a 2 game losing streak, while the Lobos drop to 5-1 on the year.

The Miners face the Aggies of New Mexico State, in the battle of I-10, in Las Cruces on Saturday the 9th at the Pan American Center. The NMSU Aggies are currently 3-3 on the year.