After the defeat of the Aggie Women in their game, Ron and I retreated to his car in the
parking lot. In spite of my insistence
that I could get him something at the Concessions, Ron wanted to eat an apple
that he’d brought. We listened to some
of the Men’s game pregame. Coach
Adams was on to discuss her team’s game.
She took the blame for their loss for not putting out the best game plan
at the end of the game. She didn’t want
her team to blame themselves for the close loss.
For tonight’s game against UT-Arlington Mavericks, Jack
Nixon pointed out that his color analyst, Anita Skipper, was a graduate of both schools. However, she had no mixed loyalties. Anita was Aggie all the way. Her comment about the game was that, "We
need more Chi,” Chi Chi Avery that
is. What was not said about the game, or
I missed it, was that both teams were 0-5 in conference. This was a must-win game for both teams. From the trivia question, we learned that UTA
had changed their name to “Mavericks” from “Rebels.” Much like the Women’s opponent, Utah Tech used to be Dixie State, until this year. What a bunch of ____ ______. (Fill in the epithet however you want.)
Back inside, Ron helped me find the Concessions stall that
was selling the pizza that I couldn’t find last time. However, after the Whataburger I’d had for lunch, I didn’t really want a pizza. I’d made such a fuss last week, Ron basically
pushed me to the register. It was a
personal Papa John’s pizza. They’re baked offsite and brought to the
arena. Mine was cold and $8. That said, it was fine.
I was wrong about where our seats were. I thought they were near the suites, but they
were on the opposite end next to the Student Section. (I was looking at the seating map upside
down.) Some students were there in the
section, but not the usual Greeks. The
crowd was a bit less than last week (attendance 4800), but it was still fairly
full. The new suites were full again.
The NMSU Fire
Brigade Honor Guard came out for the Anthem. One of the guys carried a big shiny silver
axe. A beautiful young woman came out
and sang the Anthem and did a beautiful job.
She hung out below us at courtside for the game, along with AD Mario Moccia and a couple of
attractive Pan-Am staff
members.
In his segment on the pregame, Mario had complained about
having to make a schedule change two weeks from now for the Men’s team. He also complained about the schedule in
general, since NM State was leaving
the WAC after this season. On the sidelines, the Aggie coaching staff
was looking sharp. They were in long
sleeve white shirts with crimson at the bottom.
I wonder if they sell those.
First
Half
UTA got the scoring started with a layup and a foul
shot. Issa Muhammad stole an inbounds pass, but Xavier Pinson threw the ball away after a pass. Next possession, Pinson made a great feed
Issa, but was called for a charge. UTA
went up 0-8 with 17 minutes left.
Deshawndre
Washington made a free throw for the Aggies’ first point. A Chi Chi 3 and a Xavier fast break layup
closed the score to 6-8 with 14 minutes left.
Kyle Feit came in after a
timeout wearing neon pastel green shoes.
He hit a 3 to give the Aggies an 11-10 lead. It’s
gotta be the shoes! Issa was out of
the game and getting looked at by the staff on the sidelines. He also had a pair fouls. UTA got two offensive rebounds on a possession,
but failed to score and the Aggies got the ball back.
During a timeout, the “Big” of the year for Big Brothers/Big Sisters was honored on
court. She happened to walk by me in the
aisle going back to her seat. I gave her
a round of applause. She was
embarrassed, but accepted it. Volleyball Coach Jordan was still here
after watching the Women’s game. He’s a
real Aggie fan.
There was a charge call that got the crowd riled up. Then there was a traveling call. This wasn’t the same bunch of refs as the
Women’s game. Anita commented on this as
“DTM. Doin’ too much.” James
Beck got an offensive rebound and a put-back to increase the Aggie
lead. UTA also got a travel call and
this got a snicker out of Anita. There was
a loose ball and several players flopped for it. “They’re going after it like it’s a
Moneyball.” I’m really enjoying Anita’s
commentary.
Anthony
Roy
came up with a jam, but Chenall Weaver
on the Mavericks came up with a pair of layups.
Weaver was hard to miss on court.
He’s the whitest black guy I’ve ever seen. He’s Irish white. He’s also short and quick. Deshawndre got a layup to make it 17-16 with
7 minutes left going into a timeout.
I noticed several people in the crowd wearing Quick Lane Bowl Football gear,
including myself. Good for Sports Accessories. Pistol
Pete came up to the landing of my section.
A couple of little boys went over to him to get a picture. About 20 more kids ran down to him to do the
same. Of course he was great with the
kids.
There was another travel call and Anita was
“offended.” She told the refs to go back
and watch the tape and review the rule and learn what a “pivot foot” is. You tell ‘em, Anita. Jack wasn’t left speechless and remarked, “The
Aggies run the field like gazelles.” More
fouls were called. UTA couldn’t hit
their throws, but Xavier and Quaye
Gordon could. It was 23-18 with 4
minutes left.
The Cheerleaders
went up in the stands to giveaway Lorenzo’s
pizza. No thanks, I’m full. The rest of the crowd went crazy. Several people brought signs for the
pizza. They’d been here before. A little girl who got a box, offered pieces
to some fans sitting courtside. That was
nice.
The relevant stat of the half was that UTA was 1 of 7 in
free throws. Anita called out one
specific ref for making “phantom calls.”
Meanwhile, Shakiru Odunewu,
our biggest Aggie at 6’10”, knocked down two of three free throws. Unlike Shaq,
our Shak didn’t let his 30% free throw shooting get him down. Feit and his magic shoes nailed a pair of 3’s
to the roar of the crowd and gave the Aggies a 33-26 lead at the half.
It was looking good to this point for the Aggies’ first
conference win.
Part 2
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