Facing a new heap of adversity after losing leading scorer Keith Frazier to a leave of absence, the UTEP Miners turned in perhaps their most complete effort of the season in an 80-62 ambush of Rice on Saturday in the Haskins Center.
UTEP (6-8, 1-1 C-USA) completed a 5-2 December by dominating the Owls over the final 20 minutes. The Miners shot 71.4 percent in the second half, when they made 8-of-10 threes and outrebounded the Owls 18-13. UTEP outscored Rice (3-12, 0-2 C-USA) by the score of 51-31 over the final 20 minutes, erasing a 31-29 deficit at the intermission.