There wasn't anything minor about this loss.
Yet, it doesn't take a degree in calculus to figure out why the UNM men's basketball team was unable to beat the UTEP Miners on Tuesday at The Pit.
Fairly simple math: The Lobos took a three-point lead, 27-24, at the half. They came out and shot 27 percent from the field in the second half; UTEP, on the other hand, shot 50 percent in the second half. End result: 73-60 UTEP.
Daniel Faris scored UNM's first seven points in 3:37 of the first half, but managed just nine more the rest of the way.
The Lobos' swingman, Tony Danridge, had a dozen points but was 1-of-9 from the field and looked frustrated throughout the game, especially in the second half while the Miners inched further ahead.
Danridge, for almost all 37 minutes he played, covered UTEP's Stefon Jackson. Jackson, who entered the night as the nation's seventh leading scorer averaging 23.8 points per game, had 18, but 12 were from the free-throw line, six of those coming in the last 2 1/2 minutes, when the Lobos were scrambling to extend the game by fouling.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"They had a much better second half than we did," head coach Steve Alford said. "We're not tough enough to go through a shooting percentage like that and handle things. We just couldn't make a shot, and I think that affected our defense."
Indeed, sustaining it was the problem.
The Miners got a 12-watt boost from Tavaris Watts, who came in averaging a meager 2.2 points per game and was in Faris' ear all night, enough to get T'ed-up in the second half.
"He was tremendous," Alford said. "He talked to our guys all night, and he backed it up. You got to respect someone that's going to talk stuff and back it up. He definitely did that tonight."
While the Miners got an unexpected jolt from Watts, the usually dependable Roman Martinez was straight-jacketed by the Miners and held to just six points on the evening.
That wasn't the only problem, though.
"Defensively, we have to get stops, even if we're missing shots," Martinez said.
"We need to have gang defense."
Martinez acknowledged that Danridge looked physically drained at the end of the game.
"I'm really disappointed in myself and in just trying to help him out," he said. "He started to wear down a little bit in the second half, but we can't take him out. In transition, he's a tough guard and it's important for him to stay in the game."
Things looked promising in the fist half, however. UNM closed the half on a 13-2 run, giving them a 27-24 advantage. The Lobos held their last lead with 12:45 left, but hit a dry spell and went 10:37 without a field goal. Nate Garth finally hit a 3-pointer with 2:06 left. Still, the Miners held a 64-54 lead by then.
"We only had one guy making 50 percent of his shots, and he was in foul trouble," Alford said.
