NM State Men’s Basketball December 22-25, 2017

NM State Men’s Basketball

12-22-17

Aloha.  The Aggie Men were in Hawaii for an ESPN televised tournament for the week before Christmas.  Their first opponent was the Davidson Wildcats.  I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of them, but apparently everyone else has.  They had Steph Curry on their team at one point, so they’re probably pretty good.  Currently, they have an international crew with players from Iceland and Finland. 

Boy, my notes on the first half are awful.  The game started off pretty slow, so it was hard to start writing.  Sidy N’Dir hurt his knee about halfway through the first half, but came back in.  The Aggies were up 23-15 with five minutes left thanks to some stellar D.  Davidson went through a five-minute scoring drought that was broken up by a free throw.  The half finished on a last second layup by AJ Harris after a steal by Johnny McCants.  35-27 Aggies.

The Aggies continued to dominate to start the second half, going up by 12 early on.  McCants had a one-hand jam to add to his highlight reel.  Davidson finally started hitting for a comeback and brought it to a two-point Aggie lead, 47-45, with 12 minutes to go.  Timeout Aggies.  The Aggies came back with a couple of baskets and a steal by McCants.  Davidson stayed right with them and tied off of a block and turnover.  They took the lead with under ten minutes to go.

While Aggie Jemerrio Jones sat out with foul trouble, Davidson went on a 9-point run for a 56-49 lead.  Aggie three-point shooting kept them in it.  With about one minute left in the game, Zach Lofton got a steal and a layup to get the Aggies within one.  He then got a tip in for a one-point lead.  Davidson reclaimed the lead by one with a layup with 20 seconds left.  Jemerrio was back in and got a stick back to get the Aggies back up by one with five seconds.  He then got a tip to spoil the Davidson possession.  They managed a last second shot that missed.  Our final: Aggies 69, Davidson 68.  Everybody collapse in exhaustion.  If you’re an Aggie or Aggie fan, smile on the way down.        

NM State Men’s Basketball

12-23-17

At the Diamondhead Classic in Hawaii, NMSU’s next opponent in the tournament was #6 in the nation, the 10-0 unbeaten, Miami Hurricanes.  Jack Nixon reported that there were about 30 Aggie fans in attendance; many were invited by Coach Jans.  Watching video later, there was a respectable crowd there, given that the home team wasn’t playing.  I think I heard Jack say it was morning there, while it was night here.  This game was again nationally televised on ESPN.

Again, my first half notes are terrible.  It is so much easier to write out recaps of the four 10-minute quarters that the women play.  Both teams were cold shooting to start.  Miami came out rebounding well and worked a five-point lead.  Good Aggie defense closed it to two.  Johnathon Wilkins got a strip and a jam to tie.  The teams traded the lead a couple of times, before the Aggies went up 29-25 at the half.  AJ Harris blocked a three at the buzzer.

The Aggies came out firing in the second half with a couple of three’s.  The scoreboard operator in the arena was clearly partisan and tipped the score for Miami after the shots, but it was corrected.  Both teams got their offensives going this half.  Shunn Buchanan hit a three to put the Aggies up by seven with under ten minutes left.  The Aggies fans there were cheering.  The offensives had probably picked up by this point as several players on both teams were in deep foul trouble. 

Three minutes left in the game and Miami cut the lead to three as the Aggies went cold.  It was a one-point lead in the last two minutes.  The Aggies had a four-minute scoring drought that Jemerrio Jones finally broke up with a tip in.  Zach Lofton then stuck a three with 48 seconds left.  AJ Harris piled on with a steal and layup for a 59-53 lead with 40 seconds left.

Jack Nixon was now totally into it and believing.  Miami started fouling in the last 30 seconds.  Lofton made two free throws and snatched a rebound and finished with a jam in the closing seconds to essentially finish the game.  Our final: Aggies 63, Hurricanes 54.  This was NMSU’s first win over a top ten opponent since 1990.  Can this really be the same team that got walked all over by Texas Tech in an exhibition at the start of the season?  Coach Jans has really got these guys on the same page, playing as a team.  The Aggies out-rebounded a good rebounding team (+5), their defense got 14 points off of turnovers, and they scored 63 on the #2 defense in the nation.   

I made sure to tune into the local El Paso TV news that night.  (I also found out that I was lucky.  Much of the rest of Las Cruces was having a blackout during the game.)  This victory was their lead sports story and they were talking about it the next day too.  I was watching Stadium’s Rally show the next night and they did a whole segment on it.  In this case, the hosts were asking if there was a controversy.  Was Zach Lofton rubbing it in with that jam at the end?  They were up by 7 with less than 20 seconds left.  Watching the play, Miami didn’t even bother trying to run back to stop him and essentially gave him the basket.  The hosts thought it was okay.  Me too.  Never mind that.  It was just a thrill to hear Zach and Aggies discussed on a national program.  I hope that clip makes it back to the team.  They’re going to get Christmas Eve off tomorrow and a well-deserved rest before the finale on Christmas Day.   

NM State Men’s Basketball

12-25-17

This was a Christmas present: the Aggies playing for a tournament win.  I’m sure the guys weren’t complaining about spending the holiday in Hawaii.  Santa Claus still delivers out there you know.  This game was at 1:00 pm local.  There were two games before this, starting at 7:30 am, and another one afterward.  There’s a bunch of teams out there.  Today’s opponent was the USC Trojans.  They’re very big and have NBA prospects, but have had injuries and suspensions.  Jack Nixon mentioned that USC has been pleased to draw 6,300 to their home games.  That’s about what NMSU draws with a fraction of their area population.  The Aggies were out early this morning for a non-mandatory practice, so they were taking this game seriously.           

Sorry, again.  I was a bit distracted while I was listening the game, so I kept missing important information all the way through.  The Aggie fans in attendance were into it as their team went up 7-0 to start the first half.  As the game went up tempo, USC took the lead.  The Aggies went cold and the Trojans went on a 9-point run.  USC fans were now getting into it.  Timeout Aggies.  The Aggies finally scored to break up a 13-point run.  Several Aggie players got in foul trouble and a chippy incident under the basket lead to technicals for both teams.  The Aggies were still rebounding very well, especially offensively.

Johnny McCants got a block that led to a layup and brought the Aggies within two.  The crowd loved it.  Late in the half, Zach Lofton started finding his shot to the tune of three three-pointers.  McCants got another block, which led to Lofton’s fourth three.  He had 12 points, all on three’s.  We were tied at 34 at the half.

The Trojans came out firing three’s to start.  The Aggies kept up with them.  The crowd was loud for both sides.  Lofton got his fifth three.  Another Aggie block added another layup.  With 13 minutes left, Lofton hit his sixth three-pointer. Sidy N’Dir put one in right after for a 7-point lead.  McCants racked up another highlight as he went airborne to slam in an alley-oop.  61-55 Aggies with about seven minutes left.  He picked up a couple of fouls right after that. 

Trojan three-point shooting was keeping them in it.  Five minutes left, Eli Chuha got a put back.  68-64 Aggies with four minutes left.  McCants picked up his fourth foul.  Chuha got a steal and a tip in at the other end.  72-68 Aggies, under two minutes left.  USC got a block and tied the score with under a minute.  Benny Boatwright scored his 33rd point of the evening for the Trojans on a three-pointer to give them a three-point lead.  A couple of free throws iced the game with seconds left.  Your final: Trojans 77, Aggies 72.  You just can’t win all the close ones.

Benny Boatwright was the unsurprising tournament MVP.  USC was also perfect in shooting free throws.  Zach Lofton led the Aggies with 28.  The team shot 46%, got 21 points off turnovers, and out rebounded USC.  There wasn’t a huge down stat for the Aggies.  The Trojans simply shot the ball better at over 50%.  Coach Jans took the blame in the post-game, saying the staff didn’t give the players the best opportunity to win.  He gave players virtually nothing but praise.  Jans said there was no stopping Boatwright this game, no matter what they did.  And the Aggies still have another road game before the end of the year.  They’re probably pretty gassed after all these close, tough games.  

NM State Men’s Basketball

12-28-17

The road Death March continued for the Aggie Men’s team, though Hawaii and California aren’t the worst places to spend the holidays.  They start conference play next week with three road games, but at least they get to come home after this game versus the UC-Irvine Anteaters. 

I was busy at work during the game, so I’m not going to pretend to do any sort of in-depth recap.  (Also I’m writing this right before going to the Women’s game today.)  In the first half, the Aggies were a little off on a couple of plays, but still ran up a 13-point lead, mostly thanks to some aggressive defense.  At that point, they might have gotten a bit tired.  The Anteaters capitalized and came back.  With a last second three, they got it to 26-24 Aggies at the half. 

The second half just about repeated the pattern.  The Aggies went up by 11, but this time mostly on better shooting.  The Anteaters were not going away.  By the two-minute mark, it was again a two-point game.  Zach Lofton came up big with free throws and a critical steal late.  The Aggies had a 6-point lead with 30 seconds left.  That was chopped in half by a clutch three, but the Anteaters took too much time getting it.  AJ Harris then got a layup to basically ice the game.  Lofton had the opportunity to jam one at the end, like at the Miami game, but held up, chuckling.  I guess he’d heard the criticism.  65-60 Aggies was our final.  The Aggies were -10 in rebounds and shot poorly at the foul line, but only had six turnovers.  This game was a good “taking care of business” for the Aggies.