Feb. 16, 2013
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
EL PASO, Texas (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF was unable to close its long two-game road trip with a victory Saturday as UTEP used a dominating second-half performance to roll to a 73-58 win at the Don Haskins Center. After leading by three points at the break, the Miners opened the second half on an 8-0 run and never looked back.
UTEP (14-0, 7-4 Conference USA) outscored the Knights (17-8, 7-4) 42-30 in the second half. The hosts made 64.0 percent of their shots in the second stanza and shot 52.9 percent for the game.
The Knights faced No. 22 Memphis Wednesday and headed to El Paso the following day.
In front of 8,926 fans Saturday, UCF shot just 32.3 percent overall and 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) from deep. Tristan Spurlock paced the Knights with 15 points and Calvin Newell added 11 points.
"Coming off a tough game, we needed to have a better effort tonight. UTEP is a very good basketball team and they took advantage of our mistakes," UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. "We need to give a better effort each and every night, especially against a team like this on the road in a tough place to play."
Behind the strong play from Newell, who scored 10 points in the opening 20 minutes, UCF jumped out to a 9-point advantage early in the game. The Miners got back into the contest behind Konner Tucker. The sharpshooter connected on five foul shots in the opening stanza and helped the hosts take a 31-28 lead at the break.
John Bohannon led UTEP with 16 points and Tucker finished with 15 points.
Keith Clanton made his 123rd appearance as a Knight, tying him for first with Josh Peppers on the UCF career games played list. He grabbed a team-best nine boards as the Knights finished with a 40-33 rebounding advantage.
UCF will open a four-game homestand Wednesday against Marshall. Tipoff at the UCF Arena is 7 p.m.