Start of UTEP game against North Texas Thursday night Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times
UTEP walked out of the Convocation Center Saturday night in San Antonio, walking with those saddest of words — what might have been.
The Miners, just like UTSA, sauntered into Saturday night's game in desperate, desperate need of a win.
And they had it. Well, that had it for a half, had it for a portion of the second half, had it for almost 39 minutes.
But the game is 40 minutes.
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UTSA got a steal and a layup from talented freshman Jhivvan Jackson to break Miner hearts and lead the Roadrunners to a 65-61 victory Saturday night in front of 2,210 fans.
The Miners are now 7-12 on the season and they are 2-5 in Conference USA play. UTSA leveled its overall mark at 10--10 and improved to 3-4 in conference play.
For much of the first half the Miners looked as if they would simply skate away with this one. They got out to an early lead and they led by 16 with just a smidgen over 12 minutes to play in the first half.
But UTSA slipped back into this game, trailing just 42-38 at the half.
And then came the "what might have been" portion for the Miners. They could not put the ball in the basket; just that simply. The Miners made just five field goals in the final half, making 5-of-24 for 21 percent. After scoring 42 in the first half, the Miners could put up only 19 points in the final half.
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A large part of the problem was deep down in the paint, the place where the Miners were pummeled 43-32 on the boards, the place where UTSA got 10 offensive rebounds to UTEP's one.
UTEP was already minus 6-foot-9 freshman Tirus Smith, who underwent arthroscopic surgery for a partially torn meniscus in his knee. Then, 10 minutes into the game, 7-foot-1 senior Matt Wilms sustained a foot injury and was done for the night. And then, mere seconds into the final half, 6-8 Paul Thomas picked up a third foul and had to sit.
And the Miners had to play small.
To their credit, they played small and they played well and they hung onto this game until the closing seconds. There were four ties and 10 lead changes — almost all coming in the final half dozen minutes.
UTEP played well defensively, holding the Roadrunners to just 36.1 percent from the field for the game. Working at times in a box-and-one, the Miners stymied Jackson for much of the night. He finished just 3-for-14 from the field, just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc with UTEP senior Omega Harris in his grill most of the evening.
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UTSA did not lead this rodeo until taking a 54-53 edge with 6:45 to play. And then it was back and forth and back and forth ... again and again.
Freshman guard Evan Gilyard found Thomas inside and Thomas dropped it in the bucket with 38 seconds left in the game, giving UTEP a 61-60 lead, giving the Miners an arena full of hope.
But UTSA answered and the Miners had the ball with just over 20 seconds remaining, trailing 62-61. Plenty of time, plenty of time for hope.
But Jackson swiped the ball from Harris and took it to the other end for a layup, giving UTSA a 64-61 lead. Still, the Miners had a chance. But Osborne's 3-ball at the end could not find its way home.
There was a foul and a meaningless free throw to close the curtain on this Miner heartbreak.
The struggle, that ongoing challenge of turning this basketball season into something memorable, only gets more difficult now. The Miners travel to two of the toughest places in the league — Thursday at UAB, Saturday at Middle Tennessee. UAB is 13-7, Middle Tennessee is 14-5.
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The Miners, like UTSA, needed this game on this January Saturday night. They had it for a half, they had it for 30 minutes, they had it for 39 minutes.
And then it was gone.
And then they were forced to stroll out of the Convocation Center thinking those saddest of words — what might have been.
Bill Knight may be reached at 546-6171; bknight@elpasotimes.com; @BillKnightept on Twitter.