LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The New Mexico State men’s basketball team suffered two road losses this past weekend, but in different ways.
The first came against a red hot Western Kentucky team, who have now won six games in a row and sit at third in Conference USA. The Aggies got embarrassed, falling 93-70. They put up a much better fight with Middle Tennessee, but ultimately lost 86-85 in overtime after leading by as much as 14 points.
In their meeting with WKU, the Aggies struggled on both sides of the floor early and found themselves down 17-0 in the first five minutes of action. A Jae’Coby Osborne layup ended the scoring drought to get the deficit to 15 points, but this is the closest NMSU got the entire night.
The Hilltoppers’ shooting was just too much for the Aggies to handle, as they shot a staggering 53.8% from the field and 46.2% from three-point range in the first half to find themselves up 48-26.
The Aggies were able to settle down in the second half, scoring 44 points and shooting well from the free-throw line. They shot 25-for-34 from the charity stripe. The Hilltoppers still did their thing though, finishing the night shooting 50.8% from the field and 44% from behind the arc. On the other hand, NMSU shot an abysmal 33% from the field and 17% from deep.
The 23-point margin ties the Aggies’ largest loss this season, as they fell 76-53 to Kennesaw State Jan. 31.
Despite the rough loss, NMSU saw many contributions. Julius Mims recorded his eighth double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Osborne tied his career-high of 12 points and hauled in nine rebounds in the process, finishing just short of a double-double. True freshman Augustine Ekwe had one of his better performances of the season, scoring seven points and blocking three shots in just 11 minutes of action.
Just two days later, the Aggies showed they were desperate to get a bounce back victory against Middle Tennessee. After both teams struggled to make a shot early, MTSU guard Sean Smith connected on a triple to put the first points on the board at the 16:05 mark. NMSU guard Anthony Wrzeszcz quickly responded with a three of his own to tie the game up.
From there, it became a back-and-forth affair with neither team finding an edge. By the 5:23 mark however, the Blue Raiders found themselves in the driver’s seat, up 31-23. NMSU bounced back quickly though by going on an electrifying 19-5 run to close out the half. Jayland Randall led the way with eight points during this stretch. Randall finished the half with 14 points and did not score the rest of the game. The Aggies took a 42-36 lead going into halftime.
NMSU continued its surge to start the second half, going on an 18-10 run to take a 60-46 advantage at the 10:31 mark. From there, it was all Middle Tennessee, as they closed regulation going on a 30-16 run. After falling behind 76-70 at the 1:30 mark, MTSU held NMSU scoreless the rest of regulation and went on a mini 6-0 run in the process to force overtime. Aggie guard Jemel Jones, who finished with a season-high 34 points, had a chance to win the game in regulation but missed the jump shot.
Middle Tennessee started overtime by going on a 8-5 run to take an 84-81 lead. Back-to-back buckets by Jones however gave the Aggies a one-point advantage with just over 10 seconds to go in overtime. The next possession, however, saw MTSU convert a fast-break dunk to reclaim an 86-85 lead. After an NMSU timeout, Jones went the length of the court and took a contested three pointer that missed, sealing the one-point defeat.
Jones and Randall were the leading scorers for the Aggies. Mims also finished in double figures with 12 points and Wrzeszcz added 11 points.
The Aggies are now 13-15 on the season (6-12 CUSA) and are fighting to get into the conference tournament. They currently sit at 10th in the standings, meaning they would get in at the final spot if the season ended today.
NMSU will be back in action against Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 5, at the Pan American Center. According to ESPN Analytics, the Aggies have a 63.5% chance to claim victory over the Gamecocks and sweep the season series.
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