EL PASO, Texas - It was remarkably similar to Thursday night's huge comeback at Eastern Washington, but the magic wasn't there for Idaho's men's basketball team on Saturday night in a 64-60 loss at UTEP.

Idaho (3-4) trailed 52-34, with 12:02 to play, but rattled off a 17-2 run to pull within three points, 54-51, but UTEP (3-5) made just enough plays down the stretch to hold off the Vandal rally.

The Vandal men closed the gap to two points on two occasions in the final 90 seconds, but couldn't make the final push to tie or take the lead.

"We battled hard," Idaho coach Don Verlin said. "This is a good UTEP team, a good UTEP program and a very well coached team. We didn't execute quite as well as I'd like to at the start of the second half again, but we were able to climb the hill back and get back within two."

More impressive than the run itself was probably the Idaho lineup that closed the gap. Senior center Kyle Barone and junior guard Stephen Madison, the team's two leading scorers this season, were on the bench as seven players scored during the run.

"It was nice to see some different guys step up," Verlin said. "That was good to see, because those other guys have been practicing hard and doing what they're supposed to."

Sophomore guard Connor Hill from Post Falls led Idaho with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. He remarkably converted a four-point play for a second game in a row at the 9:30 mark of the second half during the team's big run. Hill was the only Vandal in double figures on the night, however.

Jalen Ragland scored 17 points, Julian Washburn 16 and John Bohannon 15 for UTEP.

Barone was in foul trouble all evening. He sat a large portion of the first half with two fouls, then picked up a pair of quick ones early just five minutes into the second half. He fouled out at the 4:30 mark of the second half with five points and three rebounds - his lowest scoring output since March 10, 2011, when he scored three against San Jose State in the WAC Tournament quarterfinal.

Verlin said free throws were a big key on Saturday. The Vandals went just 12 of 21 (.571) from the line, while UTEP made 14 of its 18 attempts for a .778 clip.

"I told the team it was a one-possession game tonight," Verlin said. "You look at a couple simple mistakes we made, a couple free throws we didn't make - a couple of those things and this is a different finish."

Idaho plays host to Walla Walla University on Saturday.

IDAHO (3-5)

Faines 1-3 0-0 2, Barone 1-4 3-5 5, C. Hill 5-8 1-1 16, McChristian 0-1 3-5 3, Madison 2-7 5-8 9, Harris Jr. 4-5 0-0 9, Douglas 0-4 0-0 0, Habeeb 2-6 0-0 4, Borton 0-1 0-0 0, Bell 4-5 0-2 8, Kammerer 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 21-47 12-21 60.

UTEP (3-4)

J. Washburn 7-13 2-3 16, Lang 1-1 0-0 2, C. Washburn 2-4 3-4 7, Ragland 5-9 4-4 17, Streeter 2-4 0-0 5, Cooper 0-4 0-0 0, Bohannon 5-8 5-7 15, Ma. Moore 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-44 14-18 64.

Halftime_UTEP 32-29. 3-Point Goals_Idaho 6-16 (C. Hill 5-7, Harris Jr. 1-1, McChristian 0-1, Borton 0-1, Douglas 0-2, Madison 0-4), UTEP 4-12 (Ragland 3-7, Streeter 1-2, J. Washburn 0-1, Cooper 0-2). Fouled Out_Barone. Rebounds_Idaho 31 (Madison 5), UTEP 25 (Bohannon 10). Assists_Idaho 12 (Douglas 4), UTEP 15 (Streeter 7). Total Fouls_Idaho 21, UTEP 21. A_8,039.