Postseason college basketball is all about a fresh start, a chance to rewrite a season with some March magic.
For 17 minutes of the Conference USA tournament Wednesday night in Frisco, the UTEP men's team did that against Western Kentucky. That was good enough for a 14-point lead with 3:00 remaining in the first half, it was not good enough to see them home in what became a 73-67 loss that ended the Miners season.
The Hilltoppers answered UTEP's big early charge by wrapping a 20-5 run around the half as the Miners hit a familiar stretch of offensive struggles.