Stefon Jackson scored 28 points to lead the UTEP Miners in a 61-58 overtime win against the Mustangs on Wednesday night in El Paso.

With the loss, SMU (8-18, 2-11) let an opportunity for their first road win of the season slip through its fingers, as well as what would have been a tremendous confidence booster going into the Conference USA tournament. The Miners (17-10, 8-5) repaid the Mustangs for a late-season overtime loss to SMU last season.

After UTEP got off to an early 16-9 lead, SMU tightened its defense and kept the Miners from making a shot for the last nine minutes of the half. UTEP would not make a shot from the field again until the 17:47 mark in the second half.

Bamba Fall continued his recent offensive surge, scoring 11 first half points to help the Mustangs take a 30-20 lead into halftime.

Until Wednesday, the Mustangs had led at halftime only once during conference play, and that came in last Saturday’s win against Rice, when SMU led 38-28 at the break.

The Miners continued to showcase an incredible ability to get to the free throw line and convert, and the Mustangs only helped by getting into foul trouble midway through the second half. Robert Nyakundi fouled out of the game with seven minutes left while Fall, Paul McCoy, and Mike Walker played most of the game with three fouls.

Jackson powered UTEP in the second half, with 12 points coming during the Miners’ 17-7 run that erased the Mustangs lead. SMU tried to hang on down the stretch, but foul trouble kept SMU’s scorers away from the game. Fall only had one point in the second half, and the McCoy, the Mustang’s leading scorer coming into the game, remained in a shooting slump, only converting 2-of-13 from the field and ending the night with seven points.

SMU plays Tulsa University on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum.