Boxscore

A last second 3-point attempt by Donell Allick fell just short as UTEP pulled off a 71-68 win over Louisiana Tech Saturday before a sellout crowd of 12,000 at the Don Haskins Center.

Louisiana Tech fell to 10-9 and 4-5 in the Western Athletic Conference while UTEP climbed to 15-4 and 6-3.

After trailing by as many as 12 points, Tech battled back to the bitter end, only to see Allick's effort bounce off the rim and back out as time expired.

Tech's JueMichael Young hit a 3-pointer with 3:11 remaining to cut UTEP's lead to 66-61, and the Bulldogs kept fighting, cutting the Miner lead to two at 68-66 on an Allick jumper with 53 seconds left.

UTEP stretched the lead back to three at 69-66 as John Tofi hit on 1-of-2 free throws, but Corey Dean's dunk with 14 seconds left put the Bulldogs back within one at 69-68.

UTEP's Filberto Rivera connected on a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining to set up the last-ditch effort by Allick and the Bulldogs.

Young led the Bulldogs with 17 points while Allick added 14 points for Tech.

The free throw line played a big role, with UTEP hitting on 27-of-33 attempts while Tech only had 10 attempts, hitting on seven of them.

"That was the story of the game," Tech coach Keith Richard sid. "I said before the game we couldn't put them on the line 30 times. They drive hard and try to draw fouls, and tonight they did. I'm not blaming the officials, but 33-10 free throws is hard to overcome."

Tech led 30-29 at the half, largely in part to a 46.4 shooting percentage (13-of-28) while holding UTEP to 33.3 percent of its shots in the floor in the first period.

But the Miners used the free throw line to keep things tight in the opening 20 minutes, hitting on 8-of-11 free throws while the Bulldogs didn't make it to the line once in the first half.

The Bulldogs also stuggled with turnovers in the first half, with UTEP converting 10 Tech turnovers in the first half into 12 points. The Miners turned the ball over only four times in the opening half.

Young played a big role for the Bulldogs early on, scoring 12 first half points on a 5-of-5 shooting performance while making good on both 3-point attempts before intermission.

But foul trouble got to the Bulldogs early in the second half, with Paul Millsap, Tech's leading scorer and the nation's top rebounder, picking up his fourth foul with 13:18 remaining.

The Miners took advantage of the lengthy departure of Tech's big man, going on an eight-point run midway through the second half to stretch a 48-48 tie to a 56-58 lead for the Miners.

Millsap returned after sitting on the bench for five minutes but fouled out with 5:41 remaining and UTEP leading 61-52. The freshman barely missed recording his 13th double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Tech finished with a 45.8 shooting percentage (27-59) while UTEP made good on 39.2 percent (20-51) of its shots from the floor.

But the Miner free throws and 19 Tech turnovers resulting in 19 points for UTEP were too much to overcome.

Tech returns to action on Thursday as the Bulldogs play host to Fresno State in a 7 p.m. contest.