UTEP Destroys Southern Miss on Senior Night

Playing their final home game of their collegiate carrers, UTEP's seniors Omega Harris, Matt Wilms and Jake Flaggert went out in style with a dominant 73-44 win over Southern Miss on Saturday night.  Keith Frazier was to be honored too, but did not show for unknown reasons.  The Miners 10-18, 5-11 C-USA, were in control for most of the night in winning wire-to-wire for the third time in 2017-18, and for the first time in C-USA play.  UTEP has now won back-to-back games and three of their last four with only two contests remaining.  Miner fans also got to see UTEP legend Omar Thomas return to the Sun City as he is the Director of Basketball Operations with the Golden Eagles.

Evan Gilyard matched his career-high with 22 points, and Omega Harris added 18, including a beautiful 4-point play on his final possession late in the game to ride off in the sun and solidify his place in program history.  UTEP’s other seniors also went out on a high note.  Matt Willms scored 8 points, pulled down eight rebounds and blocked two shots, moving into fourth place in school history with 123 rejections.  Jake Flaggert hit a three-pointer and collected the 66th charge drawn of his career.

Isiah Osborne also contributed with 15 points and 8 boards.  UTEP has a two-game lead on Rice in the chase for the no.12 seed in the C-USA Championships, and will end their 2017-18 campaign at Rice on Thursday and North Texas on Saturday.