Start of UTEP game against North Texas Thursday night Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times
It was a win. And wins in conference — any and all conference wins — are golden.
UTEP soared through the basics — defense, rebounding, taking care of the basketball, shooting good shots — and the result was one of those golden wins.
The Miners started quickly with a swarming, hustling 1-3-1 zone and held off a strong challenge to bounce FIU 72-68 in front of 6,074 fans Saturday night in the Don Haskins Center.