EL PASO, Texas — Two days after missing a potential game-winning 3-pointer, UTEP’s Konner Tucker got a second chance in a big home game against an elite opponent Wednesday night.
This time Tucker drilled it.
The senior transfer’s shot with 13 seconds left in triple overtime against Oregon broke open a one-possession game and led the Miners to a 91-84 victory, almost exactly 48 hours after Tucker’s miss at the buzzer in a 62-60 loss to No. 21 UNLV.
“That was nice to hit," Tucker said of his 3-pointer, which gave UTEP (4-5) an 86-81 lead in the fourth triple-overtime game in school history. “I wish I had hit the last one. Keep shooting and good things happen. It was a great pass from Jacques (Streeter) and I was lucky to knock it down."
After making one of 11 3-point shots in regulation and the first two overtimes, UTEP was two for two in the third extra period, including the second career 3-pointer from John Bohannon, who fouled out with 21 points. His 3 with 2:18 remaining put UTEP’s lead at 84-80.
“Playing this quality of team, the idea is to get better," said Miners coach Tim Floyd. “You get better or you wilt and you learn how to lose. We didn’t do that. We continued to get better. We were better than we were (against UNLV)."
UTEP’s Julian Washburn led all scorers with 23 points and Bohannon had 10 rebounds to go with his 21 points.
Damyean Dotson had 20 points to lead Oregon (9-2), while Carlos Emory scored 18.
After UTEP led most of the first 30 minutes, there were 13 ties and 13 lead changes in the final 10:15 of regulation and the three overtimes.
The Ducks shot a season-low 29 percent from the field in the first half against a triangle-and-two and box-and-one defense from the Miners. After bouncing back to shoot 52 percent in the second half, Oregon managed just 38 percent shooting in the three overtimes.
“We didn’t move it like I thought we would," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “We worked on it the last couple of days, but the ball movement was really bad. We did not execute and that’s my fault."
Still, both teams had plenty of chances to win.
Bohannon was at the line with 4 seconds left in regulation and his team down 62-61, but made only one of two free throws to tie the game at 62-62.
Neither team made much of last possessions in the first two overtimes. The Miners had the last shot of the first OT but Washburn missed a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer, then Oregon’s Dominic Artis and Arsalan Kazemi both missed 3-pointers in the final 2.2 seconds of the second overtime.
The end of regulation, by contrast, was frantic.
Bohannon’s offensive rebound and layup with 20 seconds left briefly gave the Miners a 59-58 advantage, but Artis went coast-to-coast for a lead-changing basket at the 9-second mark. UTEP didn’t call timeout, broke the other way and found Bohannon under the basket, where he was fouled to set up the final sequence.
UTEP finished 30 of 41 from the free-throw line, while Oregon was just 14 of 27.
Also on Wednesday:
No. 1 Duke 88
Cornell 47
DURHAM, N.C. — Seth Curry scored 20 points, Mason Plumlee added 18 and Duke reeled off 23 straight points in a rout of Cornell.
No. 5 Louisville 79
Florida International 55
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Peyton Siva had career highs of five 3-pointers and 12 assists for Louisville in the first meeting between Cardinals coach Rick Pitino and Richard Pitino, his son and FIU counterpart.
No. 6 Indiana 93
Mount St. Mary’s 54
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Cody Zeller finished with 16 points and six rebounds, and Christian Watford added 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Indiana.
No. 8 Florida 82
Se Louisiana 43
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mike Rosario scored a season-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists for Florida.
No. 11 Cincinnati 60
Xavier 45
CINCINNATI — Sean Kilpatrick scored 25 points and led a second-half surge that carried Cincinnati over Xavier in the renewal of their crosstown rivalry, an amicable one a year after it was marred by a brawl.
No. 14 Gonzaga 74
Campbell 52
SPOKANE, Wash. — Przemek Karnowski scored 14 points to lead four Gonzaga players in double figures and the Bulldogs beat Campbell.
No. 16 New Mexico 68
New Mexico State 63
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Kendall Williams tied a career high with 24 points, including nine during a first-half run that brought New Mexico back from a double-digit deficit, and the Lobos beat rival New Mexico State for the second time in a week.
No. 17 Creighton 71
Tulsa 54
OMAHA, Neb. — Avery Dingman had 14 of his career-high 21 points in the second half, and Doug McDermott overcame a slow start to score 16 for Creighton.
No. 21 UNLV 73
Northern Iowa 59
LAS VEGAS — Anthony Bennett had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead UNLV to a victory over Northern Iowa in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge.
No. 22 Notre Dame 85
Kennesaw State 57
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jack Cooley scored 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead Notre Dame.
Texas 85
No. 23 North Carolina 67
AUSTIN, Texas — Sheldon McClellan scored 18 points and struggling Texas upset North Carolina.
No. 24 Oklahoma State 69
Texas-Arlington 44
STILLWATER, Okla. — Markel Brown scored 17 points and Phil Forte added 13 to lead Oklahoma State.
