Texas-El Paso Miners vs Arizona Wildcats Match Player Stats On Dec 12, 2020

James Akinjo scored a team-high 18 points, making all 14 of his free throw attempts, as Arizona held off UTEP 69-61 on Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.

Arizona (5-0) led nearly the whole way but never gained comfortable separation against UTEP (2-2), which was within 65-61 in the final minute with the ball. But Jamal Bieniemy missed a jumper, and then Akinjo was fouled after the Wildcats came up with the rebound.

Akinjo made two free throws with 31.1 seconds left.

The Wildcats, who were playing their fourth game in eight days, drained 25 of 28 free throw attempts to offset a poor shooting night from outside. Arizona, which made a combined 25 3-point shots in its previous two games, missed all nine of its tries from behind the arc.

Akinjo was 2 of 11 from the field. Bennedict Mathurin had 13 points and seven rebounds. Jemarl Baker Jr. scored 11 points.

UTEP's Souley Boum, who entered averaging 26.0 points per game, scored a team-high 16 points, shooting 4 of 12 from the field. This was the first time this season he failed to reach the 20-point mark.

Bryson Williams contributed 10 points and seven rebounds for the Miners, who were outrebounded 46-25.

UTEP ripped off the first six points after halftime to cut its deficit to 35-33, causing Arizona coach Sean Miller to call a timeout 95 seconds into the half.

The Wildcats recovered to push their lead to 49-39 with 14:13 to go when Mathurin's three-point play capped a 7-0 run, but the Miners didn't go away. Boum's 3-pointer brought UTEP within 61-57 with 6:45 to go, but the Miners failed several times to make it a one-possession game in the final minutes.

The game was close for most of a cold-shooting first half, but Arizona poked ahead 25-19 at the 5:20 mark on a layup by Mathurin. After a short jumper by UTEP's Efe Odigie, Arizona went on an 8-2 run that included two baskets by Baker driving into the lane as the Wildcats went up 33-23.

Arizona led 35-27 at halftime.

--Field Level Media