Texas-El Paso 64, Washington State 51: Vince Hunter scored a team-high 15 points and the visiting Miners used suffocating defense to cruise past the host Cougars.
Texas-El Paso, which entered Saturday limiting opponents to a Conference USA-best 38 percent shooting, held Washington State to a season low in points on 33.9 percent shooting. The Miners (7-5), who put five players in double figures in Thursday’s win over Northwestern State, got more balanced scoring in this contest, including 14 points from Julian Washburn and 13 from McKenzie Moore.
Freshman Que Johnson led Washington State (6-5) with a career-high 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, but the rest of the Cougars went just 12-for-46 from the floor. D.J. Shelton had nine points and 11 rebounds for Washington State, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.
The Cougars shot 27.6 percent in the first half and trailed 28-17 at the break. Washington State didn't score a point for the game's first five minutes and finished the first half 1-for-12 from 3-point range.
The Miners quickly opened up a 38-22 lead in the second half and the Cougars couldn't get the deficit under double digits until Royce Woolridge turned a steal into a layup to make it 56-47 with 3:29 to play. Washington State could get no closer than eight points thereafter as Washburn dashed the Cougars’ hopes with a momentum-changing 3-pointer with 2:18 left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington State G DaVonte Lacy scored just six points, 14 below his season average. ... UTEP coach Tim Floyd is 2-4 all-time at Pullman, but has won two straight. ...The Miners, who shot 60.4 percent from the field on Thursday, connected on 51.2 percent of their field-goal attempts on Saturday.
Texas-El Paso | Washington St. | |
Vince Hunter 15 | Scoring | Que Johnson 21 |
McKenzie Moore 5 | Assists | Ike Iroegbu 3 |
Vince Hunter 8 | Rebounds | D.J. Shelton 11 |
McKenzie Moore 7 | Free Throws Made | DaVonte Lacy 2 |
Justin Crosgile 1 | Steals | Brett Boese 1 |
John Bohannon 2 | Blocks | Jordan Railey 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Texas-El Paso | 64 | 51.2 | 5-14 | 15-20 | 12 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
Washington St. | 51 | 33.9 | 7-27 | 4-11 | 7 | 33 | 2 | 3 | 9 |