UTEP men power past FIU to complete road sweep
Jan 18, 2025
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) -- The UTEP men's basketball team continued a strong "bounce-back" road trip after falling to archrival New Mexico State in a lopsided game in front of a sold-out crowd at the Don Haskins Center last week.
Saturday, Jan. 18, the Miners beat host Florida International 81-73 in Miami to complete a sweep of its Eastern-Time-Zone road trip.
Last week, the Miners were routed 85-57 by New Mexico State, putting a damper on what has been a hot start to the season by UTEP.
Against FIU, Otis Frazier III poured in a season-high 22 points while Ahamad Bynum tallied 18 points off the bench (13 in second half) to help lead UTEP.
The Miners (14-4, 4-1 CUSA) unleashed a barrage of 3-pointers (10-23, 43.5 percent), including four from Bynum and three by Frazier III, to continue their best start in 14 years and complete a road sweep of Liberty and the Panthers (7-12, 1-5 CUSA).
UTEP is 10 games above .500 for the first time since the 2014-15 season, along with getting off to a 4-1 start in CUSA play for the first time in 10 years. The Miners have now won 11 of their past 13 games.
The Miners swept their trip to the Eastern Time Zone, something that hasn’t happened since 2016-17 when they knocked off FAU and FIU in back-to-back tilts.
Furthermore, UTEP has now won four straight CUSA road contests (dating to last year). That is the longest such surge in eight seasons.
The Miners shot 53.8 percent (28-52) from the floor, including 61.1 percent (11-18) in the second half. They also took care of business at the free-throw line, knocking down 15-19 (78.9 percent), including eight straight in the final two minutes to hold off FIU.
Corey Camper Jr. contributed nine points and a team-high six rebounds. Devon Barnes added eight points, four assists and three rebounds while David Terrell Jr. pitched in six points, including four consecutive free throws in the final 1:12, while adding three rebounds.
“FIU is just really tough to play against. I think this is the best FIU team that they’ve had since I’ve been here. You go back and look at all the games they’ve lost this year, and they’re right there,” UTEP head coach Joe Golding said. “I thought offensively we were really good today. We handled the press well (13 turnovers). I’m proud of our guys. To come down here and sweep this road trip after last week, this team showed a lot of toughness and great resilience about them. Anytime in this league, as good as this league is, when you can win two games on the road, that’s a heck of a weekend.”
UTEP returns to Don Haskins Center for a pair of matchups next week. Up first, the Miners will lock up with Jax State at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23.
For tickets, visit www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets or call (915) 747-UTEP.