UTEP basketball: Miners Top Sul Ross 84-72

It didn't officially count, it wasn't pretty, but UTEP won a basketball game after a another lengthy layoff.

Earvin Morris scored a game high 22 points, leading four Miners in double figures as UTEP out paced undermanned Sul Ross 84-72.

Sul Ross took a 2-0 lead for about 20 seconds after the opening tip, then UTEP turned a 10-6 lead into a 16-0 run after C.J. Cooper drilled a three pointer in transition to push UTEP ahead 26-6 with 10:12 left in the first half.

Omega Harris added 15 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, though turned it over four times.  Cedrick Lang chipped in 12 points, and seven rebounds, while Matt Willms put in 10 points, and grabbed eight rebounds.

Harris opened the second half scoring with a three pointer, though UTEP missed their next five looks from deep, and Mike Huffman hit a pair of free throws to cut the UTEP lead to 55-46 with just under 14 minutes left in the second stanza.

Led by Morris who played all forty minutes, the Miners went on a 15-1 run from there to jump out to a 70-47 lead with 8:33 to play.

After the game Tim Floyd was not happy with his teams performance, saying he felt they "took a little step back", and was not happy with the rebounding effort from the guards.

Sul Ross out rebounded UTEP 44-40, and held a 20-13 advantage in points off turnovers, though shot 36 percent from the field.

El Pasoan Rocky Feliciano led Sul Ross with 21 points, and Damian Rhodriquez chipped in 14 points for the Lobos.

Vince Hunter, and Julian Washburn did not see any action, C.J. Cooper hit a pair of transition three pointers, and finished with 8 points in 32 minutes.  Hooper Vint struggled with his decision making, though finished with 9 points, and 7 rebounds.

Lew Stallworth had a solid first half with 8 points, and 4 assists, though did not return in the second half due to what CTF described as an illness.

It wasn't the cleanest of runs CTF wanted to see or probably planned, the Miners left a lot of points out there in their open floor chances, though were patient against the half court zone Sul Ross used assisting 21 of their 29 field goals, and swatted six shots on the defensive end.

UTEP will turn its attention to conference play with a two game road swing on Friday night at North Texas, then face Rice on Sunday afternoon.