The Lobos dropped yet another heartbreaker, this time to the Utah State Aggies 63-60 on Saturday. The team had multiple chances down the stretch to steal the victory, but couldn’t.
“I thought Utah State played a very good game,” head coach Craig Neal said. “I thought they made shots when they needed to make shots, and it just seemed like we didn’t come ready to play. I thought we played hard, but we didn’t play up to our capabilities until about the last six minutes.”
The Lobos wasted no time jumping out on the Aggies, leading 19-10 midway through the first half, but Utah State rallied and led 33-30 at halftime after a Chris Smith 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Senior guard Hugh Greenwood didn’t record his first points until there was 9:56 left in the second half, but he did make some big plays to keep the Lobos in it toward the end. His 3-pointer with 1:56 remaining cut the Aggie lead to 63-60.
The Lobos got the stops they needed on the defensive end and had a chance to take the game into overtime on the final possession. Senior guard Deshawn Delaney rebounded the Aggies’ last shot attempt, and there looked to be hope for the surging Lobos.
Sophomore forward Devon Williams then missed a 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining. Greenwood snatched up the offensive rebound and yet again gave the Lobos hope.
Greenwood (eight points, seven rebounds) passed to a wide-open junior guard Tim Jacobs, who missed the 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining. After this attempt, it wasn’t until nine seconds later that the Lobos fouled Aggie guard Darius Perkins.
“We had a play diagrammed up to run and we just got in a hurry,” Neal said. “I think they were excited because we got a stop. A couple guys didn’t go to the right spot, but that’s us. That’s all of us. That’s me and the team. We didn’t get what we wanted to get.”
UNM (14-9, 6-5 Mountain West) had a different game plan heading into Saturday: get the ball inside. The Lobos struggled to take advantage of their size in Wednesday’s loss at Air Force, but made it a point to have that game plan against the Aggies.
Sophomore center Obij Aget got off to a hot start, scoring six of the Lobos’ first 10 points. The Lobos’ other big men — Williams, junior center J.J. N’Ganga and junior forward Jordan Goodman — also got involved early in the game. They combined for 18 of the Lobos’ 20 points to start the game.
Aget led all Lobos with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes of action. He was the only Lobo in double figures in either category.
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The Aggies (13-10, 6-5 Mountain West) had four players in double figures, with sophomore forward Jalen Moore scoring a game-high 19 points.
Freshmen Xavier Adams and Joe Furstinger did not play due to a decision made by the Lobos’ coaching staff. Neal said he wanted to shorten his rotation and play the guys who have earned the playing time.
The Lobos have now dropped two out of the last three home games and four out of six games overall. They will travel to Fort Collins, Colorado to play the fourth-place Colorado State Rams on Tuesday.
Kyle Tomasi is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter
@KyTo22.
