HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — UTEP slammed the door shut on Sam Houston's hopes of making it to the championship game of the Conference USA Tournament with a stunning 65-63 win in the semifinals at the Propst Arena on Friday.
The Bearkats let a 14-point second half lead evaporate mainly due to a poor performance from the free throw line. Sam Houston (21-12) went just 11 for 21 in the final 20 minutes as the Miners snapped the Kats' eight game winning streak.
Lamar Wilkerson and Jaden Ray each scored 14 points for Sam Houston. Davon Barnes added eight, Cameron Huefner finished with seven and Damon Nicholas Jr. and Kian Scroggins chipped in six apiece.
Sam Houston woke up from a sluggish start to grab the lead at the break. Barnes drained a 3-pointer coming out of the half to make it 36-27, Sam Houston's biggest lead of the game at that point. He followed with a jumper the next trip down to make it a double-digit advantage for the Bearkats.
But a six-minute stretch spelled disaster for Sam Houston in the form of a made field goal drought that allowed UTEP to get back in it. A 9-0 run saw the Miners turn the game around and charge pass the Kats 55-50.
Free throw shooting was Sam Houston's Achille's heel. With the game in the balance, the Kats couldn't get it done at the line.
Ray and Huefner both scored with under a minute to go to pull Sam Houston within one. A last second shot by Barnes to tie it came up short as the regular season champs were bounced from the tournament as first year head coach Chris Mudge came close to punching the program's first ticket to the NCAA Tournament since the 2009-10 season.
The first half was about runs, and the Bearkats' came at the more opportune time in the opening 20 minutes.
UTEP was hot out of the gate, going on a 9-2 run to grab a 16-8 lead. The game picked up from there.
Wilkerson knocked down a pair of free throws to begin Sam Houston's charge. Huefner put back his own miss on the offensive board to cut the lead to 16-12.
Wilkerson drove inside for a quick score, and Ray got one of his floating jumpers in the lane to fall to make it a one-point game thanks to an 8-1 run. The Bearkats took their first lead at 18-17 with six minutes to go in the half on two more shots from the charity stripe by Wilkerson.
The two teams went back and forth from there with Scroggins tipping in a missed shot with just over a minute to play. Nicholas would follow with a steal and a layup 20 seconds later to send Sam Houston into the half on top 33-27.
NOTES
• The Bearkats are now 13-5 when leading at the half this season.
• Sam Houston is now 5-12 all-time in conference tournament semifinal games. The Bearkats lost to Grand Canyon in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals last season.
• The Kats last won a conference semifinal game in the 2014-15 as members of the Southland Conference. Sam Houston topped Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 70-67 to advance to the title game where the Bearkats lost to Stephen F. Austin.
