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Ellis, Kansas hold off UTEP

Dec 1, 2013 - 3:53 AM Nassau, Bahamas (SportsNetwork.com) - Perry Ellis paced all scorers with 19 points, while Wayne Selden Jr. chipped in with 14 as the second-ranked Kansas Jayhawks defeated the UTEP Miners, 67-63, in the third-place game of the Battle-4-Atlantis.

Naadir Tharpe scored 11 points for Kansas (6-1) and freshman phenom Andrew Wiggins was held to six points on 2-of-9 shooting.

McKenzie Moore led UTEP (4-4) with 15 points, while Justin Crosgile and Vince Hunter scored 14 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench for the Miners.

Playing a night after a heart-breaking loss to Villanova, Kansas showed no hangover effects and jumped out to a 15-2 lead in the first nine minutes of action.

The game was scoreless for the first four minutes before Selden hit a jumper then buried a 3-pointer to spark the run. Selden would add another trey, and Joel Embiid's three-point play capped the run at 10:57.

UTEP closed to within seven after a Matt Willms free throw with 33 seconds left in the half, but Selden hit a jumper with five seconds remaining to give the Jayhawks a 34-25 advantage at the break.

The Miners hung around for most of the second half, staying in striking distance of the Jayhawks and pulling to within seven after a 10-2 run with just over 11 minutes left in the game. McKenzie Moore capped the run with a 3- pointer to cut the deficit to 44-37.

The margin remained seven before Kansas used a 9-2 run to pull away, as Ellis' jumper extended the lead back to double digits, 59-45, with 2 1/2 minutes to play.

UTEP did not go away, however, countering the Kansas run with a 9-0 spurt of its own to cut the deficit to 59-54 with a 40 seconds left on the clock.

Kansas made 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch, but UTEP answered every time, including Moore who made three free throws after being fouled by Frank Mason with seven seconds left to pull within three, 66-63.

Ellis made 1-of-2 from the stripe and C.J. Cooper's 3-pointer was off the mark as Kansas held on.

Game Notes

The Miners have lost seven straight to ranked opponents since beating then-No. 25 UAB on Jan. 30, 2010, and 21 of the last 22 overall ... This was the first win for Kansas over UTEP. They lost the previous three matchups ... Kansas will travel to Colorado with a meeting against the Buffaloes next Saturday ... UTEP will face Sacramento State at home next Saturday.