EL PASO, Texas — UTEP took the first round of this season’s Battle of I-10 on Thursday night in El Paso, holding New Mexico State without a point over the final 2:58 to win 60-58 at the Don Haskins Center.
Cam McDaniels poured in 22 points, his second straight game above 20, and grabbed five rebounds. Leif Moeller chipped in 10 on 4-of-8 shooting, and Youssouf Traore added eight while making four of his six shots.
Traore’s layup with 2:41 left put the Miners in front for good. On the Aggies’ last trip down the floor, a long fadeaway try from Jermaine Washington fell well short at the horn.
The rivals were even 28-28 at halftime, and the game saw eight ties and nine lead changes in all. UTEP never trailed in the second half.
Defense carried the night for the Miners. New Mexico State hit 19 of 48 shots, under 40%, and turned the ball over 18 times, giving UTEP 16 points off those mistakes. The Miners also won the paint 22-12, edged the glass 37-34 and hit 10 of 14 free throws. A crowd of 6,180 turned out.
Offense was harder to come by. UTEP assisted on 14 of its 21 made baskets, and the win was its second in a row. Coach Joe Golding called it a backyard brawl, saying his team was not sharp on offense but won it with defense, which he viewed as a step forward from earlier this season.
Washington led the Aggies with 16 points. Mark Lavrenov had 14 points and eight boards, and Adrame Diongue blocked two shots.
UTEP moved to 2-1 and New Mexico State fell to 1-2. The teams meet again in a week in Las Cruces, with a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Pan American Center.
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