EL PASO, TEXAS – North Carolina A&T had the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) Miners on upset alert Wednesday night during the first day of the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational. But back-to-back 3-pointers removed the Miners from upset danger in a 75-62 defeat of the Aggies at the Don Haskins Center.
The Aggies dropped to 5-7 on the season. They have one more game in El Paso when they face New Mexico State Thursday night at 7:30 eastern at the Don Haskins Center. New Mexico State lost its first-round Haskins invitational game to Kent State 73-63 in Wednesday's first game.
Aggies sophomore guard Kam Woods hit four 3-pointers and scored 17 points to lead A&T against UTEP. Making his first start of the season, senior forward Jeremy Robinson scored in double figures for the third time this season as he finished with 12 points.
UTEP improved to 8-3 and became the fourth A&T opponent to shoot 50 percent or better this season. The Miners also dominated the Aggies in the paint with a 48-20 advantage. But like they have done all season, the Aggies remained competitive using the 3-point shot.
A&T went 9-for-24 from three, including Woods' pretty step-back 3-pointer that gave the Aggies a 35-34 lead at the 17:15 mark of the second half. A minute later, Calvin Solomon's dunk gave the Miners the lead for good as he ignited a 14-2 run to provide UTEP with a 48-37 lead with 12 ½ minutes to play.
But Woods got the Aggies going again with a 3-point play after the under-12-minute timeout. Woods netted two more threes during a spurt where the Aggies outscored the Miners 9-3 to get to within five at 51-46 with nine minutes to play.
UTEP's lead remained at five, 55-50, at the 7:47 mark as freshman Duncan Powell got to the rim and scored. But a minute later, Tae Hardy netted two free throws, and Shamar Givance connected on two consecutive threes to push UTEP's lead to 63-50 with 5:46 to play.
A&T never got the lead under double figures again, as Givance led the Miners with 18 points. Givance's two late 3-pointers were his only two 3-point makes of the game. The Aggies had 14 turnovers compared to UTEP's 11, yet the Miners still gained an advantage of 24-5 in points off turnovers.
The Aggies took a 12-4 lead over the game's first five minutes when junior guard Marcus Watson found Horton underneath for a layup. Horton finished the game with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting.
UTEP did take a 20-18 lead on a Ze'rik Onyema layup with 7:07 remaining in the first half. It marked their first lead since it was 2-0 17 seconds into the game.
Sophomore guard Love Bettis put the Aggies back in front, 25-24, with two free throws with 2 ½ minutes remaining in the first half. After Powell hit two free throws, UTEP ended the half on a 7-0 run to take a 31-27 halftime lead.
