Nov. 27, 2004
LAS VEGAS (AP) - UTEP's Filiberto Rivera made a trio of 3-pointers with under seven minutes to play as the Miners topped Arizona State 66-65 Friday night in the Las Vegas Invitational.
UTEP survived a last-second shot that rimmed in and then out. Arizona State's Tyrone Jackson drove the length of the court with seconds to play, missing a driving lay-up as the clock expired.
UTEP overcame a double-digit first half deficit for the victory. Rivera's first 3-pointer gave the Miners just their second lead of the game, 53-52, with 6:32 to play. He followed with a pair of 3-pointers minutes later, the second of which gave UTEP a 61-57 advantage it would not relinquish.
Omar Thomas had a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Miners, while Jason Williams and Rivera added 13.
UTEP did a majority of its damage in the second half with Arizona State's star player, Ike Diogu, on the bench with four fouls. Diogu finished with 15 points in just 25 minutes. However, he had only four points in the second half.
Diogu did extend his string of consecutive games of scoring in double figures to 62, currently the longest streak in the nation.
Steve Moore had a team-high 16 points for the Sun Devils and Bryson Krueger added 12. Krueger hit four first-half 3-pointers, including three in the game's first five minutes as the Sun Devils built a 25-17 at the 8:17 mark.
UTEP (3-0) advances to Saturday night's title game against Southern Illinois, and Arizona State (2-1) will face Vanderbilt in the third-place game.
Southern Illinois beat Vanderbilt 67-53 in earlier action.