UTEP basketball recap: Southern Miss gets 'Crafty,' 'Stones' UTEP, 87-78

Golden Eagles' Craig Craft and Sai'Quon Stone each score 22 in victory over Miners

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

HATTIESBURG , MS — UTEP coach Tony Barbee claimed that being tough and rebounding would be the keys to victory prior in Wednesday night’s game at Southern Miss. Only one of those goals was reached, and it just was not enough.

With the 87-78 loss to the Golden Eagles, the Miners dropped their third straight game while falling to 12-10 overall and 4-4 in Conference USA. Wednesday night’s win improves the Golden Eagles to a very respectable 14-6 overall, as well as 4-3 league play, which places them in a four-way tie for third with Rice, UCF and Tulsa.

The Miners were outrebounded 39-28, but they forced 18 Golden Eagles’ turnovers while only committing 13.

Free throws were a deciding factor, as Southern Miss converted 34 of 39 attempts from the charity stripe while UTEP shot only made 20-of-29. A grand total of 56 personal fouls, 30 of which were on the Miners, were called in the game. This was the result of some sloppy play and a closely officiated game.

With six minutes still remaining in the first half, UTEP had already been called for an amazing 15 fouls. This played a role down the stretch, as the Miners’ playmakers were in foul trouble. Nevertheless, UTEP closed the gap to only one point, 47-46, at the half.

Midway through the second half, UTEP went on a 10-2 run and took a two-point lead.

The Miners took an unusual amount of shots from beyond the arc, as they attempted 37 three-pointers and connected on 12 of them.

Sai'quon Stone and Craig Craft scored 22 apiece for the Golden Eagles. Craft also pulled down game-high 11 rebounds. Stone scored 14 of his 22 points from the free throw line. Courtney Beasley also reached double figures, finishing with 17.

Stefon Jackson led the Miners with 20 and 3 rebounds. He was followed by veteran Kevin Henderson with 12.

UTEP shot only 38% from the field, connecting on 23 of 60 shot attempts. On the other hand, Southern Miss shot well at home and knocked down 51 percent (24-of-47) of its shots.