Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UTEP
No. 20 Bulldogs Lose To UTEP, 80-61
2/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2001
By CHRIS ROBERTS
Associated Press Writer
EL PASO, Texas - After a blowout loss to Fresno State earlier this season, Texas-El Paso made sure they didn't have a repeat performance.
Eugene Costello scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half to lead Texas-El Paso to an 80-61 victory over No. 20 Fresno State on Saturday night.
The win avenged the Miners' 108-56 loss to the Bulldogs at Fresno State on Jan. 25, the worst loss in Western Athletic Conference and school history. It was the second straight loss for Fresno State (20-5, 9-3), who lost to Texas Christian 102-88 on Thursday night.
"We caught the best team in the league when they were coming off a loss, we knew we had our work cut out for us and I am so proud of these guys," Miners coach Jason Rabedeaux said.
Costello also had a career-high 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Miners (18-6, 7-5 WAC). Brandon Wolfram shot 8-of-11 from the field for 20 points, and Brian Stewart was the only other Texas-El Paso player in double figures with 17.
Chris Jeffries scored 19 points to lead the Bulldogs.
"It's a miserable road trip for us, we're going to have to go home and regroup," Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian said.
The Miners, trailing 44-32, made a second-half comeback with a 24-2 run that started with 16:21 left.
Eight minutes later, the Miners pushed their lead to 56-46 with 8:34 remaining. The Miners went ahead 49-46 on a 3-pointer by Nick Enzweiler with 10:43 left.
Just before Enzweiler's 3, the Miners tied it on a basket by Costello, after a steal by Enzweiler. Enzweiler passed to Costello, who made a layup to give him seven consecutive points, and the Miners never trailed again.
"I just thought we ran out of gas totally," Tarkanian said. "In the second half, we just couldn't buy a basket."
The Miners only had the lead once in the first half, when the score was 18-17 with 10:48 remaining. Fresno State went on a 20-9 run to hold the Miners scoreless for nearly six minutes, taking a 37-27 lead at halftime.
The Miners outscored Fresno State 53-24 in the second half. Fresno State's second-half point total and their game total both were season lows
