UI makes late run, but falls to UTEP

EL PASO, Texas – Jalen Ragland, Julian Washburn and John Bohannon combined for 48 points as UTEP held off Idaho 64-60 Saturday night in a nonconference basketball game.

Ragland had 17 points, Washburn 16 and Bohannon 15 for the Miners (3-4), who led by as many as 18 points in the second half. Bohannon also pulled down 10 rebounds and Jacques Streeter had seven assists for UTEP, which shot 52 percent from the field.

Connor Hill led Idaho (3-5) with 16 points.

The Miners pulled away with an 18-3 second-half run that gave them a 52-34 lead with 12:16 remaining. Washburn had nine points in the spurt, Bohannon added six and Ragland buried a 3-pointer to account for all of UTEP’s scoring.

Idaho fought back and got within two points on two occasions, at 60-58 and 62-60. But Streeter hit a jumper with 32 seconds left and Washburn sank two free throws with 9 seconds remaining to secure the win.

“We battled hard,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “This is a good UTEP team, a good UTEP program and a very well-coached team. We didn’t execute quite as well as I’d like to at the start of the second half again, but we were able to climb the hill back and get back within two.”

Kyle Barone, who fouled out, and Stephen Madison, the team’s two leading scorers this season, were on the bench during Idaho’s late run.