EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The UTEP men's basketball collected its sixth straight win after it beat Sam Houston, 81-72, in a Conference USA game at the Don Haskins Center on Saturday night. FINAL: @UTEPMBB 81, Sam Houston 72Devon Barnes with a team-high 17 points.UTEP improves to 12-3 on the season and sweep the weekend to start Conference USA play 2-0.— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) January 5, 2025 Devon Barnes was firing on all cylinders in Saturday's contest. The Tarleton State transfer scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. Four of Barnes' made shots were from three-point range. Corey Camper Jr. was UTEP's second leading scorer in the game as he recorded 16 points. As a team, UTEP shot 54.9% (28-51) from the field. Miners forced Sam Houston into 15 turnovers and scored 12 points off of them. UTEP collected nine steals in the contest. This is one of the most electric sequences I've seen UTEP men's basketball have at the Don Haskins Center.Fans were loud at the Don. Still waiting to see an official attendance number for tonight's game.#UTEP | #PicksUp pic.twitter.com/sSsLj4sU7u— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) January 5, 2025 Sam Houston was led by Marcus Boykin. He scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. Lamar Wilkerson (16 points), Cameron Huefner (14 points), and Kalifa Sakho (10 points) were the other Sam Houston players that finished the game in double figures in the scoring department. With the win, UTEP is on a six-game winning streak, have won 9 of its last 10 games, improved to 2-0 in league play and 13-2 overall. Up next, UTEP will take on its Battle of I-10 rival, New Mexico State, on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Don Haskins Center. Both the UTEP and New Mexico State MBB’s teams head into next Saturday’s Battle of I-10 meeting 2-0 in CUSA play.UTEP & NMSU are the only 2-0 teams in CUSA right now. Kennesaw St. is 1-0 and plays MTSU on Jan. 9So massive game at the Don next Saturday. Possible sellout?— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) January 5, 2025 New Mexico State is 9-6 overall and is also off to a 2-0 start to Conference USA play after it beat Sam Houston and LA Tech in the opening week of league play.