HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Don McHenry scored 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting with four steals to help No. 3 seed Western Kentucky beat UTEP 78-71 on Saturday night and win the Conference USA tournament for the first time in the program's history.
Western Kentucky (22-11), which joined the conference in 2014, won its first conference tournament since 2013, the Hilltoppers' last season in the Sun Belt Conference.
Brandon Newman scored 15 points and Khristian Lander added 11 for Western Kentucky. Babacar Faye had 10 rebounds and nine points, three blocks and three steals.
Zid Powell scored 21 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead No. 5 seed UTEP (18-16) with 21 points. Otis Frazier III and Tae Hardy added 11 points each.
Powell scored eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers in a 34-second span, as the Miners opened the second half on a 17-6 run that gave them a 53-47 lead with 13 minutes left. Western Kentucky responded with a 13-0 run, taking the lead for good on a Lander layup with 10:24 left, as UTEP missed eight straight shots and committed three turnovers over the next four minutes.
McHenry made a layup and hit a jumper before Enoch Kalambay made 1 of 2 free throws to push the lead to 10 with about 5 minutes left and the Miners trailing by at least seven the rest of the way.
UTEP missed 10 consecutive field goal attempts to open the game.
