EL PASO, Texas -- Roosevelt Smart and Umoja Gibson had 13 points each and North Texas extended its best start in school history with a 58-51 victory over UTEP on Thursday night.

Michael Miller added 11 points and Zachary Simmons had 10 points for the Mean Green (16-1, 4-0 Conference USA). North Texas reached the best start in program history last Saturday when it passed the 14-1 start by the 1952-53 squad.

The Mean Green have won eight straight and are off to their first 4-0 start to conference play in 30 years.

The Miners (5-9, 0-3) used a 9-2 run to get within 50-48 on Efe Odigie's 3-pointer with 2:36 left in the game. From there, Gibson made two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws to help North Texas hold off UTEP.

Odigie led UTEP with 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.