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EL PASO — Senior Alex Vouyoukas scored a career-high 12 points andsenior Sei Paye contributed 10 off the bench to help lead UTSA to a season-opening 73-64victory at UTEP on Friday night in front of 7,195 fans atthe Don Haskins Center.
With the program's first victory in five tries against theMiners (0-1), the Roadrunners improved to 21-10 all-time in season openers,including 5-1 under sixth-year head coach Brooks Thompson. It also marked thesecond consecutive season-opening victory that occurred on the road,
"I was really pleased with what we did defensively tonight,"Thompson said. "We did some very good things out of our zone against a reallylong team. Our guys played hard and unselfishly for 40 minutes and we had someguys really step up when we needed them."
Vouyoukas was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and made2-of-4 from the free-throw line en route to his career best, while Paye made3-of-4 from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers. Junior transfer MichaelHale III added 12 points and sophomore JeromieHill added nine.
The Roadrunners forced 21 UTEP turnovers, 15 coming onsteals. Senior Stephen Franklin had a team-high five, while junior Melvin Johnson III andHale III added four and three, respectively. UTSA shot 60 percent in the secondhalf and 50 percent for the game, including 7-of-14 from downtown.
UTSA led by double digits in the first half, but UTEP cutthe deficit to six early in the second half. After Hale III, the starting pointguard in his debut, picked up his third foul at the 17:14 mark and had to sit,Paye moved over to lead the offense and helped spark a 13-5 run over the nextfour minutes. Johnson III had five points during the run.
Vouyoukas had a pair of put-backs to help give UTSA a 60-44lead with just under nine to play. The lead grew to 18 after a layup by juniortransfer Kannon Burrage on the next possession and Vouyoukas had yet anothertip-in at the 7:52 mark to make it 64-46.
Jacques Streeter knocked down back-to-back treys to pull theMiners to within 68-59 with just over two minutes remaining. He struck againfrom long distance to make it 71-62 with 38 seconds left, but the Roadrunnersheld on for their fifth win in the last six games against Conference USAopponents.
John Bohannon led the Miners with 12 points and fiverebounds, while Streeter had 11 points and five assists. UTEP shot 45.1percent but struggled from the 3-point line (7-for-21) and charity stripe (11-for-20).
The Roadrunners stormed out to a 13-3 lead through the firsteight minutes of the contest behind strong defense, as they forced seven UTEPturnovers — six via steals — and held the Miners to just one field goal ontheir first 10 attempts.
UTSA built its lead to a dozen when Hillknocked down a three from the wing that made it 26-14 with 4:49 to play in thefirst. The Miners cut the deficit back down to single digits late in the half,but they trailed, 33-25, at the break.
UTEP shot just 32 percent in the half and committed 13turnovers, which led to 12 UTSA points, but it managed to out-rebound theRoadrunners, 27-11.
UTSA will begin play in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off onTuesday, Nov. 15, at the Midwest Regional in Stillwater, Okla. UTSA, seeded eighth,will face No. 6 Oral Roberts at 9:30 p.m. in the opening round and will faceeither Arkansas-Pine Bluff or second-seeded Oklahoma State the following night.