UTEP 91, Boise St. 78
"Whoever they get in the tournament, they can matchup with," Graham said. "Their biggest plus is they can play any style. They can play fast or in the half court. They always take care of the ball and they can score from any position," he said.
UTEP led 41-31 at the half and opened a 61-41 lead when Tofi was fouled on a basket inside and converted a 3-point play to cap an 11-2 run with 12:34 left.
Boise State followed with 10 straight points, including six free throws from Karl, to pull to 61-51 with 9 minutes remaining.
"We felt magic with 6 to 9 minutes to go," said Karl, son of Denver Nuggets coach George Karl.
But St. Amant hit from behind the arc, and Miguel Ayala connected from 19 feet to help push UTEP's lead to 68-53 with 7:20 left.
Ellis scored nine in a row and Karl hit a 3 to cut it to 76-67 at 3:59. But Thomas made two free throws and Rivera hit a 3 for an 81-67 lead with 2:43 left.
Rivera made all eight free throw attempts and St. Amant hit both of his down the stretch to seal the win. Rivera was 9-of-16 from the field, including three 3s.
"Fili doesn't score unless we need him to score," Sadler said. "He's the best there is. ... It's no secret. El Paso knows it and the league knows it. Now the rest of the country is going to find out just how good Fili is."
Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
