Boxscore

EL PASO, Tex. -- Louisiana Tech couldn't keep up Friday as UTEP raced to a 89-69 win over the Bulldogs before a sellout crowd of 12,000 at the Don Haskins Center.

The win pushed UTEP t0 22-7 overall and 12-4 in the Western Athletic Conference while Tech fell to 13-12 and 8-7.

Louisiana Tech looked to its zone defense to try and slow a quicker UTEP squad, but that was to no avail as the Miners outscored Tech 18-4 on fast break points to avenge an 80-65 loss on Jan. 29 in Ruston, La.

"They were the quicker team," Tech coach Keith Richard said. "They were quicker down court, quicker to the ball, quicker in a lot of areas. Our coaching staff knows our team and knows UTEP. We've tried to play them man-to-man in the past and we just don't match up against that quickness. We tried the zone, but they were just too quick for us."

Omar Thomas led the Miners with 23 points and 12 rebounds while Filiberto Rivera set a UTEP school record and a Louisiana Tech opponent record for assists with 18 while adding six points.

Paul Millsap hit 10-of-12 shots from the field and led Tech with 23 points and added seven rebounds while Donell Allick chipped in with 15 points for the Bulldogs.

UTEP opened the contest with a 7-0 run but the Bulldogs battled back, cutting the Miner lead to one point at 16-15 on a Daevon Haskins jumper at the 12:48 of the first half.

But UTEP would heat up again late in that first half, going up by as much as 15 and taking a 43-32 lead at intermission.

It was all UTEP in the second half as the Bulldogs would get as close as nine points back at 48-39 with 17:41 reamining but could get no closer. UTEP built as much as a 24-point advantage at 73-49 with 11:18 left in the contest on the way to the 20-point win.

UTEP's 89 points were the most scored on the Bulldogs this season, surpassing San Jose State's 88 points in a one-point Spartan home win over Tech on Jan. 13.

Giovanni St. Amant also played a big role in UTEP's win, connecting on 6-of-9 3-point attempts to add 18 points for the Miners. UTEP hit on 13-of-24 3-pointers on the night.

UTEP out-rebounded the Bulldogs 36-35 but made the most of 10 offensive boards by scoring 21 second-chance points compared to 10 points for Tech on 12 offensive rebounds.

Tech will return to action on Sunday with a 3 p.m. contest at Boise State.