Golden Eagles finally put Miners away

It wasn't pretty, but the Marquette Golden Eagles will take the victory.

The Golden Eagles pulled away in the second half to take care of business against Texas-El Paso, 76-69, at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday.

Now MU (7-2) turns its attention to state rival Wisconsin in the teams' annual clash on Saturday at Fiserv Forum.

The Golden Eagles and the Miners (3-5) were facing each other for just the second time. MU also won the first meeting in 1965.

The Golden Eagles got off to a strong start, taking a 9-2 lead into the under-16

minute timeout. Center Theo John had four of the points and also drew two quick fouls on UTEP starting big man Kaosi Ezeagu.

MU's defense forced turnovers on five of the Miners' first eight possessions.

That advantage stretched to 13-2 before first-year UTEP coach Rodney Terry burned his first timeout after Markus Howard found Ed Morrow Jr. for a one-handed slam on a fast break. At that point, the Miners were shooting 1 for 7 with six turnovers.

Howard, in his first game since scoring 45 points against Kansas State, missed his first four shots, including 3 three-point attempts.

UTEP battled back to withing 19-14 before MU freshman Joey Hauser converted a three-point play.

The Miners kept hanging around and MU held a 23-21 advantage before Howard made his first field goal on a layup with just under six minutes remaining in the first half.

That got Howard going a little bit. He finished the first half with eight points on 3-for-8 shooting.

MU took a 37-30 lead into the locker room after a ragged first half. The teams had seven turnovers apiece.

The Golden Eagles couldn't quite put away from UTEP, with the Miners cutting the deficit to 60-56 with just under 7 minutes left.

Howard responded with a threepoint play and MU was finally able to pull away down the stretch. Howard finished with 21 points. Jordan Lathon led UTEP with 26 points.