BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – With 17 seconds potentially remaining in Marshall’s season, Ryan Taylor turned in two of the biggest plays of the year and willed Marshall to an 87-85 win over Texas El-Paso in the Conference USA quarterfinals.
Tied at 85, the Miners’ Omega Harris drove to the basket only to have Taylor block his shot, giving Marshall a chance to win the game in regulation. After a timeout, Taylor drove for the game-winning layup with 3.8 seconds left.
Taylor finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, scoring all but two of his points in the second half. Austin Loop poured in 18 points, shooting 6-of-13 from 3, followed by 13 points by James Kelly, who also had 11 rebounds. Jon Elmore had 12 points and Terrence Thompson had 11.
Terry Winn had 21 points and 11 rebounds for UTEP.
The game matched Marshall’s recent stretch of regular-season games—tight, intense and fast tempo. The teams combined for 16 lead changes and 15 ties as Marshall (17-15) avenged an earlier 112-108 loss to the Miners (19-14).
The Herd started just 1-for-8 from outside the arc and Kelly picked up two fouls just 4:16 into the game. That’s when Thompson responded on the inside for the Herd.
Marshall shot 43.5 percent from the field and was 13-39 from 3-point range, a new C-USA Tournament record for 3-point attempts.
Marshall moved on to face Middle Tennessee in the semifinals Friday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. It’s Marshall’s first trip to the semifinals since 2012.