HONOLULU — Tony Barbee said this would be just another game.
The current Auburn coach and former UTEP head man made sure his team treated Sunday’s game against his old squad no differently from any other.
Unfortunately for Barbee and the Tigers, John Bohannon — whom Barbee recruited to El Paso — tied a career high with 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Miners held on for an 83-76 victory over Auburn in the third-place game of the Diamond Head Classic.
The 6-foot-10 center was one of five players in double figures for the Miners (6-6). Michael Perez scored 18 points, Jacques Streeter added 12 and Gabriel McCulley and Cedrick Lang had 10 apiece.
“John Bohannon had the game of his career,” UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. “He took quality shots, and he was willing to move the ball.”
Kenny Gabriel scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Tigers (8-3), who also got 18 from Varez Ward and 16 from Josh Langford.
“They played well,” Barbee said of the Miners. “They made the plays when they were supposed to make them, and we obviously didn’t. If anything, our defense let us down.”
Auburn led 50-45 with just over 12 minutes to play after an alley-oop from Ward to Gabriel. But McCulley hit a 3-pointer to pull UTEP within a basket, and Lang tied at 50 with an easy layup off an assist from McCulley on the Miners’ next possession. UTEP scored the next four points and never trailed again.
The Tigers pulled within 60-59 after a 3-pointer by Streeter with 5:12 remaining, but Perez answered with a 3-pointer to put the Miners back up by four. The Miners led by 11 inside the final minute after a pair of free throws by McCulley made the score 80-69.
Bohannon was 6 of 9 from the field and 8 of 9 on free throws. He also recorded three assists and two steals. “My teammates were looking for me,” said Bohannon, who entered the game averaging just 7.1 points per game. “My teammates did a good job of finding me. I capitalized on what I can do. I made plays for them like they make plays for me.”
The Miners held Auburn’s Frankie Sullivan, who averaged 19.5 points in two earlier tournament games, to seven points on 2-of-5 shooting.
UTEP shot 65 percent (13 of 20) from the field in the second half and 53 percent for the game. The Miners made 9 of their 13 3-point attempts (69 percent) and were 22 of 29 from the free throw line.
The Miners beat Clemson in Thursday’s opening round before falling to Kansas State in a semifinal Friday. The Tigers beat Hawaii and lost to Long Beach State in earlier tournament games.
“I feel like we had our goal to win the tournament,” Bohannon said. “We didn’t accomplish it, but I feel we got better as a team and we grew up a lot out here.”
UTEP’s first game in school history on Christmas was its fifth contest in nine days. It went 4-1 during that stretch and hosts Colorado State on Wednesday in the opening round of the Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso.
It was the third meeting between the schools. UTEP won both previous meetings, the most recent in 1986, when the Miners upset the fifth-ranked Tigers.
Barbee coached UTEP for four seasons before taking over at Auburn last year. The Miners were 82-52 under Barbee and went to the NCAA tournament in 2010, Barbee’s final season.
AUBURN (8-3) Langford 6-10 3-5 16, Ward 4-8 10-12 18, Gabriel 10-14 1-1 24, Sullivan 2-5 2-2 7, Chubb 0-6 0-0 0, Denson 2-4 3-4 9, McAfee 0-1 0-0 0, Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-6 0-0 0, Forbes 0-0 0-0 0, Kouassi 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-55 19-24 76. UTEP (6-6) Washburn 3-11 0-0 6, Streeter 4-6 1-2 12, Bohannon 6-9 8-9 20, McCulley 2-3 5-7 10, Perez 4-9 6-8 18, Cooper 2-4 2-2 7, Lang 5-7 0-1 10, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 22-29 83. Halftime—UTEP 37-31. 3-Point Goals—Auburn 7-21 (Gabriel 3-4, Denson 2-3, Langford 1-3, Sullivan 1-4, McAfee 0-1, Ward 0-3, Johnson 0-3), UTEP 9-13 (Perez 4-6, Streeter 3-4, McCulley 1-1, Cooper 1-2). Fouled Out—Streeter, Sullivan. Rebounds—Auburn 33 (Gabriel 8), UTEP 25 (Bohannon 9). Assists—Auburn 14 (Ward 6), UTEP 16 (Streeter 5). Total Fouls—Auburn 23, UTEP 18. A—NA.
