Dominic Artis led UTEP with 25 points, carrying the Miners down the stretch as they survived a thrilling 87-85 exhibition win against D-2 Alaska-Fairbanks.
It was a rough opening 20-minutes for UTEP, minus Omega Harris who did not play in the first half as Tim Floyd said he wanted to give extra minutes to freshman Deon Barrett.
The Miners found themselves down 8-2 early on, then never led in the first half despite shooting exactly 60 percent from the field in the first half.
A 3-pointer from Alaska-Fairbanks’ Spencer Clark gave the Nanooks a 28-21 lead with 8:48 left until halftime.