UTEP and Florida International were locked at 53 with six minutes remaining in the ball game, until the Miners went streaking on a 10-0 run to avoid a second half letdown, eventually pushing past FIU, 72-68.
UTEP’s offense ran through guard Isiah Osborne, who had a game-high 21 points, and freshman guard Evan Gilyard who chipped in with 14 points.
“We’re starting to see a guy emerge in Isiah Osborne,” interim head coach Phil Johnson said.
“I just saw that they (FIU) was committing a lot of fouls, so I tried to get to the hole and earn some easy buckets, since my shot wasn’t really falling throughout the game,” Osborne said after his 7-of-16 shooting performance and seven made free throws.