The top team in C-USA was able to escape El Paso with a win after three tough quarters. Bret Bloomquist/El Paso Times
For three quarters (minus one second) UTEP displayed all what has led to success this season.
The Miners scrapped and clawed and fought the best team in Conference USA, a UAB Blazers squad that came in third nationally in 3-point shooting, to a dead standstill.
In the fourth quarter, the best team in C-USA very much like one of the top 25 teams in the country.
Tied 52-52 with one second left in the third quarter, UAB scored seven points in 36 seconds, then went on to score 24 points in 5:04 to turn that tie into an 84-64 win that improved them to 18-3 and put them in first in C-USA.