UTEP Loses Their Fifth Straight as They Fall to NMSU 79-68

The Miners' dismal season continues as they fell to I-10 rival New Mexico State 79-68 on Tuesday evening at the Don Haskins Center.  UTEP suffered their fifth consecutive defeat dropping their record to 2-6, while the Aggies improved to 9-2.  NMSU's Ian Baker was a force to be reckoned with all night long as he scored 20 points and had 5 rebounds.

The Miners were fighting an uphill battle throughout the entire game due to the Aggies' exceptional shooting of 62.5 percent in the first half, and 54.9 percent rate throughout the entire game.  NMSU dominated the boards by outrebounding UTEP 38-28.  The Aggies did an outstanding job of spreading the scoring around too as Jemarrio Jones recorded a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Eli Chuha added 11 points and 8 boards.

The only players who truly stepped up for the Miners were Omega Harris who scored 18 points and Dominic Artis contributed with 15.  Following the game Coach Floyd noted, 'we have struggled trying to find a third scorer.'  UTEP was relatively ineffective in the paint all night long and seemed to deviate away from what worked for them in their one point loss at New Mexico last week, which was utilizing their perimeter shooting on a more consistent basis.

UTEP did play much better in the second half though by shooting 55.2 percent from the field and outscored the Aggies 43-38.  At one point UTEP went on a run and was able to cut NMSU's lead to 10 late in the second half, but could get no closer as the Aggies pulled away and won by 11 points.  The Miners will continue their four game homestand as they host Northern Arizona on Saturday at 7 p.m.