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PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- They slowed it down to a crawl in the beginning, then went as fast as they could at the end. Pierre Hojbjerg fc bayern munich jersey . An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. 2 Kansas 67-63 on Saturday night in the third-place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis. "Let me just say that we got beat by a fine team tonight," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "And theyre going to do a lot of things, I think, in the NCAA tournament this year." McKenzie Moore scored 15 for UTEP (4-4), including three free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining to get the Miners within three. Justin Crosgile scored 14 points and Vince Hunter added 10 the Miners, who held Kansas to 39 per cent shooting. "I was real pleased with the effort," Floyd said. Perry Ellis scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, Wayne Selden Jr. scored 14 and Joel Embiid came off the bench to add nine points, seven blocked shots -- all in the second half-- and six rebounds for the Jayhawks (6-1), who will likely drop from the No. 2 spot in the national rankings this coming week. Still, the Jayhawks will likely be on everybodys list of must-watch teams come March, and that gives Floyd plenty of hope for the Miners season. "We have a long ways to go to become a good basketball team," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And thats not all bad, either. We rarely have great teams in November. But were not as good as we were 17, 18 days ago. So thats a little frustrating that weve gone backwards. We didnt play well at all over here." Naadir Tharpe added 11 for the Jayhawks, who never trailed. The Jayhawks won despite Andrew Wiggins being held to six points, nearly 10 below the freshmans season average. It was the second straight night where Kansas saw a big early lead, 11-2 against Villanova and 15-2 against UTEP, evaporate and the game turn into a struggle. The finish saw UTEP scoring 13 points in just over a minute and carving away most of a late 14-point Jayhawk lead, but Kansas had enough. Barely, but enough. And if UTEP had been better from the line, it might have been a different story -- the Miners missed 10 of 24 tries from the stripe. Kansas led by 15 in the second half, and after a series of UTEP rallies, the Jayhawks were still up by 14 following Ellis jumper from the right wing with 2:21 left. It was 59-45 at that point. It was 18-8 UTEP the rest of the way, a far cry from how the Miners started the night. On UTEPs first possession, Floyd -- who isnt exactly shy about going against convention, with his box-and-one and triangle-and-two defences on display often in the Bahamas -- did something hardly ever seen anymore, especially at the start of games. He stalled, though said afterward that it wasnt a true stall, just a set with hopes of creating 3-on-2 mismatches or open drives. Think the old North Carolina "four corners," or something akin to it, anyway. Thats what the Miners did in the opening minutes, running an average of 30.1 seconds off the 35-second shot clock on their first nine possessions. Simple logic, really -- the fewer possessions Kansas had, the fewer chances it would have to score. It only sort of worked. After 5 1/2 minutes, Kansas had only two points. In that same span, the Miners had zero points. "It was different ... but I thought we adjusted well," Ellis said. The Miners missed their first six shots and didnt get on the board until 12:35 remained in the half, a drive by C.J. Cooper snapping an 0 for 6 start by UTEP and cutting Kansas lead to 7-2. By the time UTEP scored again, Kansas had already pushed the lead out to 15-2, running off eight straight. And along the way, UTEP ditched the ploy and just started playing. Thats when it became a game, for really the first time. UTEP went on an 18-11 spurt, getting within 26-20 late in the half. Wiggins -- who had been scoreless until then -- scored six straight to give Kansas a 12-point lead with 1:30 left, and Seldens acrobatic drive gave the Jayhawks a 34-25 lead at the break. But UTEP hung around, all the way to the end. "We didnt want to leave here without getting better for the rest of the season," Hunter said. "I believe we did. I believe we got better, playing the No. 2 team in the country." Thomas Muller Shirt . San Antonio was out of energy and emotion, which is usually when coach Gregg Popovich turns to Manu Ginobili for a boost. Ginobili is no longer the only player giving the Spurs a jolt of enthusiasm and showmanship off the bench. Pierre Hojbjerg Shirt . As the lowest-ranked of nine unseeded European qualifiers, France was expected to go in the Africa-dominated draw pot — meaning it could not be placed in the same group as a top-seeded European team.Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Chicago White Sox reinstated first baseman Jose Abreu from the 15-day disabled list Monday. Abreu landed on the disabled list with tendinitis in his left ankle on May 18 after establishing major-league rookie records for home runs (10), RBI (32), extra-base hits (19) and total bases (71) through April. In 44 games this season, Abreu is hitting .260 with 11 doubles, 15 home runs, 42 RBI, and 29 runs scored. He led the majorrs in homers and was second in RBI at the time of his injury. Patrick Weihrauch Shirt. The 27-year-old Cuban slugger became the second player ever to win AL Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month in his first month in the majors during April. Fellow countryman Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers was the first in June 2013. Abreu takes the spot of infielder Marcus Semien, who was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte following Sundays 4-1 victory over San Diego. cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '