The Lobos ratcheted up the defensive intensity and walked away from their first Rio Grande Rivalry game of the season with a 72-59 victory.
“I’ll start off by saying I thought New Mexico State was a really good team,” said UNM head coach Craig Neal. “I thought they played hard. They did a really nice job in the first half. Caught us a little bit off balance.”
The first half was tight throughout, as both teams played pretty even. The Lobos (3-0) led for most of this period but the biggest lead was only of six points, which happened three times.
NMSU’s guard Ian Baker recorded a three-pointer with 49 seconds left on the clock to help his team go into halftime with a 30-29 lead. It was only the second time the Aggies led during the period.
The second half was a lot different.
Center Obij Aget scored two points to put the Lobos back on top less than 30 seconds into the half. Baker fired back with another three-pointer to put the Aggies up 33-31 with 18:21 on the clock.
That was the last time NMSU (2-2) would find itself out in front.
The score became tied 33-33 with a jumper by guard/forward Sam Logwood, and after a brief scoring drought from both teams, guard Elijah Brown gave the Lobos the lead for good at the 16:28 mark.
NMSU head coach Paul Weir said the Aggies stayed behind for the rest of the game due to some of the same mistakes the team made two games ago, when they fell 61-64 to Colorado State.
“When we are rolling is when we are getting stops, getting out in transition, we’re moving the ball and getting some movement,” Weir said. “But if we’re going to keep fouling and putting people on the free throw line all night, they’re just going to have their defense set all the time and we can’t get into rhythm.”
The biggest lead the Lobos had on Friday night was 13 points, which occurred on four occasions. The first came late in the game with 2:12 remaining and was also the margin of victory when the final buzzer went off.
“In the second half, I’m really proud of the way my guys played,” Neal said. “I think the best thing that happened tonight was how hard they played. We didn’t play the smartest but we’ll iron those things out…. I thought our defense was a lot better. I thought their focus was a lot better.”
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3-pointers were not the Lobos’ forte on Friday, as they went 1-10 from behind the arc. The lone make came from Brown who, by the end of the night, had scored a total of 19 points. He was the second-highest scorer for UNM.
Forward Tim Williams led the Lobos in scoring for the third straight game with 20 points. His strength was at the foul line, where he went 10-13 from the charity stripe.
But as a team, the Lobos finished 23-for-37, which Neal said could have been better. It probably helped that the Aggies struggled from the line, going 14-for-21 in the game.
“I thought that was one of our Achilles heels,” he said. “We could’ve built a pretty good lead. I look at it and we missed five in a row… we are better foul shooters than that, but it’s the pressure of the game. This was a big game."
The Aggies were able to hang around shooting well from 3-point range, recording seven baskets from downtown. Baker hit four from deep and led all scorers with 25 points.
After five consecutive games at home, including exhibitions, the Lobos will get their first road challenge when they head to California to face Virginia Tech on Thursday at 2:30 PM. The game will air on ESPN.
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men’s soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports @dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
