Thomas Takes Lobos Over UTEP

Kenny Thomas hit 13 of 15 shots and tied his career-high with 31 points Saturday night as No. 24 New Mexico beat Texas-El Paso 81-65.

Thomas, the Lobos' 6-foot-8, 250-pound senior center, made his final home game one to remember. He hit his first six shots, was 4-of-5 on 3-pointers, got his ninth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. He also moved into second place on the school career scoring list with 1,864.

Rico Nelson scored 17 points and Brandon Wolfram had 15 for UTEP.

New Mexico (21-6, 8-4 WAC) consistently went to Thomas when it needed a basket or defensive stop and he delivered. He scored 14 of the Lobos' first 21 points and when UTEP (16-9, 8-4) made a run in the second half, it was Thomas who buried the Miners' rally.

Jarvis Mullahon's 3-pointer with 14:18 left got UTEP within 45-43. But Thomas muscled his way inside to roll in a basket, then blocked Mullahon's next shot on the defensive end to set up a 3-point play by New Mexico's Lamont Long.

A free throw by Roland Hannah finished off an 8-0 run and the Lobos were back in control. UTEP got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Thomas, who twisted his back slightly early in the game and battled cramps over the final four minutes, wrecked the Miners' defensive strategy of using two players to guard him.

The strategy worked last month when UTEP beat New Mexico 67-49 in El Paso, but this time Thomas left the middle and went outside to pump in a variety of jumpers.

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