SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Andre Miller and Keith Van Horn each scored 12 points as No. 4 Utah beat Texas-El Paso 68-55 Thursday night.
The Utes (22-3, 14-1 Western Athletic Conference) used strong runs on both sides of intermission to put the Miners (12-13, 5-10) away.
Utah, which clinched the WAC Mountain Division title Monday by beating Rice 75-66, finished the first half with a 12-2 spurt to lead 35-22 at the break.
Miller had five points in the run, giving him eight points in the half to go with five rebounds and four assists.
The Utes opened the second half with a 14-4 surge. Van Horn canned a 3-pointer and added two free throws with 14:25 to play to give Utah a 49-26 lead.
Reserves Hanno Mottola and Jeff Johnson scored nine and eight points respectively for the Utes, who won their seventh straight game overall and 14th straight in the conference.
Jeff Spiller scored 13 points for UTEP, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Sharif Fajardo had 12 points and B.J. Wade added 11.
Van Horn, who became Utah’s carer scoring leader Monday night, went just 3-of-13, all of the baskets 3-pointers.
Miller finished with nine rebounds and five assists despite sitting out the final 13 minutes. None of the Ute starters played more than 23 minutes.
The Utes led by as much as 61-35 with 9:07 remaining before coach Rick Majerus emptied the bench.
In a brief ceremony before the game, Van Horn was given the ball from last Saturday’s Utah-Tulsa game for becoming the school’s career scoring leader. He has 2,358 points in four seasons, 37 more than scored in three seasons by Billy “The Hill” McGill, an All-American and the nation’s leading scorer (38.8) as a senior in 1962.
GAME SUMMARY
No. 4 Utah 35 33 — 68
UTEP 22 33 — 55
UTEP — Fajardo 2-6 8-8 12, Wade 5-11 0-0 11, Garcia 3-5 1-2 7, Jones-Young 2-8 2-4 6, Spiller 5-8 0-0 13, Randle 0-2 2-2 2, Escobedo 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 1-5 0-0 2, Bamba 1-3 0-0 2, Tollett 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 13-16 55.
Utah — Hansen 1-3 2-2 5, Van Horn 3-13 3-4 12, Doleac 2-5 0-0 4, Caton 2-5 0-0 5, Miller 4-11 4-5 12, Jackson 2-4 0-0 6, McTavish 3-4 0-0 7, Mottola 4-6 1-1 9, Johnson 0-3 0-1 0, Johnsen 4-6 0-0 8, Gooch 0-0 0-1 0, Sampson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 10-14 68.
3-Point goals — Texas-El Paso 4-13 (Spiller 3-5, Wade 1-3, Randle 0-1, Jones-Young 0-4), Utah 8-16 (Van Horn 3-6, Jackson 2-2, Hansen 1-2, McTavish 1-2, Caton 1-3, Johnson 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Texas-El Paso 29 (Wade 6), Utah 40 (Miller 9). Assists — Texas-El Paso 8 (Garcia, Jones-Young 2), Utah 17 (Miller 5). Total fouls — Texas-El Paso 18, Utah 16. A — 14,004.
