NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Men’s Basketball 2-1-20

Let’s hear it for my workplace!  Ron and I had a nice meal at McAlister’s before tonight’s Aggie Men’s Basketball game.  This was courtesy of a gift card from work.  The tickets for this Pack-the-Pan-Am game versus GCU were also from work.  Indeed, we weren’t the only ones with tickets.  85 local businesses had bought many of the 12,900 tickets to sell out the Pan-Am Center tonight.  This also included the restaurant where Aggie Bryce Rewalt works.  They bought 80 tickets so his co-workers could see him play. 

If you got there early enough, they were giving out t-shirts for the first 1,000 fans.  It was probably a long shot to get one of those, though I did run into a co-worker with a couple.  I was ambivalent about getting one.  They weren’t going to be handing out any in Ron’s size.  We got there relatively late, about a half hour before tip-off, and the overflow parking lot was full.  Inside, I noticed several people wearing throwback jersey t-shirts.  Maybe these were given to season ticket holders. 

Our seats were on the south end in the corner and had a good view of the court.  The student section was next to us.  It was full and the students were standing.  Next to them was a section full of purple-shirted GCU students.  They were standing too.  In between them was the Roadrunner Revue band.  Tonight, they were featuring a vocalist.  A girl belted out a song with the band.  It added a Mad Max feel to the event.  Even the GCU students applauded her. 

There were lots of pretty girls there tonight.  I noticed a couple of girls wearing matching jackets that read, “Clever Girls Club,” on the back.  A co-worker came in and evicted some cute girls sitting in front of us.  Just as well.  They would have been a distraction.  Down below, there were a couple of very good-looking young women in white dresses serving the fans in the courtside seats.  For that matter, some volleyball girls (Cat Kelly, Ashley Anselmo, and Katie Birtcil) were sitting in our section, in front of one of my other co-workers.    

Ron had told me earlier that the Aggie Women had lost in Phoenix to GCU in the afternoon.  The Men’s pregame on the radio gave the score as 60-49.  For some reason, our Women don’t play well there.  Earlier in the afternoon, I listened to the UTEP Miner Women lose to UAB on the radio.  My dear Katarina Zec came within one point of scoring her 1,000-th career point.  I told Ron that I’d almost asked him about going to their game in El Paso last Saturday.  I’d heard Kat and teammate, Ariona Gill, (if I’m remembering correctly) on the radio earlier in the week.  They were so sweet and asked for the fans to come out for them.  Ron was noncommittal on whether he would have wanted to have gone.

Let me put in a little sidebar in the middle of this digression.  During the interview with Kat and Ariona, Steve Kaplowitz mentioned a former Lady Miner player.  She had been secretly pregnant while playing.  She was a big player and her job was to stand in the lane and take hard charges.  The girls let out an audible gasp at the story.  Also, Kappy mentioned how he’d accidently interviewed Kat after a Miner loss earlier in the season.  A staffer had told her to go talk to some people after the game.  They’d meant for her to go mingle with the fans, but she’d thought they’d meant for her to talk to the people calling the game.  Players aren’t supposed to talk to the media after a loss, I guess, and the team staff members were horrified to see her chatting away with Kappy on the air.    

PA Ed couldn’t resist welcoming the GCU fans there tonight.  The video screens played Johnny McCants’ halfcourt last second winner from last year (1-10-19), as Ed reminded them of that victory.  Right before the opening ceremonies, even before the full crowd had showed up, I was having trouble hearing my radio even with the volume all the way up.  The lights went out.  A rapper came out and fronted the band.  Pistol Pete, waving the Aggie flag and wearing chaps with crimson lights, charged out on court before the team. 

    

There was a great Anthem performance.  The crowd went wild as the lady did an impressive rendition.  During the GCU team’s introduction, their fans locked arms and started swaying back-and-forth.  It was impressive syncopation.  There was a decidedly mixed reaction to their new assistant coach, Marvin Menzies, who used to coach the Aggies.  PA Ed, at least, gave him a warm welcome.        

Damn it!  I was so close to getting this scorecard right.  My concentration lapsed once in the first half (which strangely coincided with the Aggies doing the same).  Late in the second half, some of my co-workers were leaving and I wasn’t able to pay attention to the action on court.  (Chatting a little with some friends was a bit more important.)  Excuses . . . excuses . . .

First Half

Evan Gilyard popped in a three to start the Aggie scoring.  On defense, Ivan Aurrecoechea was being aggressively double-teamed whenever he touched the ball.  Lope Carlos Johnson had all their points after four possessions.  Johnny McCants got his first points on a three to make it 8-6 Aggies.  Jabari Rice then hit a three.  Since baskets inside the arc were hard to come by at first, it was a good thing the long distance shooting was working.  Jabari then went coast-to-coast for layup and the crowd rocked the house, 13-6 Aggies. 

During the first media timeout, Athletic Director Mario Moccia came out on court for a presentation.  For tonight’s “White Out” game, he was dressed in white shoes, white pants, and a white jacket.  Back to the action, Ivan committed a foul and freshman William McNair came in.  Both teams went scoreless for a couple of minutes.  Jabari broke it up with another three to make it 16-9.  Shunn Buchanan came in put in another three to make it 19-9 with 12 minutes left in the half. 

During a timeout, Flex-Cam found a little kid with his shirt off posing.  Inspired, Jabari hit his third three of the game.  As he ran past the media table, he said something to color commentator Justin Hawkins.  Hawk declined to exactly repeat whatever Jabari said.  Shunn followed up with a steal and then another three that took a friendly bounce on the rim.  He then tipped away a pass to get the Aggies the ball back.  Shunn had picked up where he left off after his performance against the Roadrunners on Thursday (1-30-20).

Ivan got in on the scoring with a last second layup.  He flexed for the crowd afterward.  Johnson ran over Gilyard to draw a foul and prompt another media timeout.  A couple of El Paso weather forecasters were honored out on court.  Nicole Gomez’s little son was given a souvenir ball.  On the way off the court, he dribbled the ball and made a layup.  Mario, lock that kid up with a scholarship now!  (The forecasters were also sitting in our section by the way.)  There was also a halfcourt shooting contest.  The girl contestant’s shot didn’t make it halfway to the basket.  She seemed to be having a good time anyway and might not have passed a breathalyzer test.

Johnny stood his ground under the basket and drew a charge.  GCU went to a full-court press, but both teams again didn’t score for a couple of minutes.  McCants broke it up with a three.  32-14 Aggies with three minutes left in the half.  A few more Aggie Volleyball players came in, including Kassi Stolz and Autumn Gentry.  I’d definitely classify that as the main highlight of the first half.  Johnny continued his highlights as he put in a layup.

GCU did make a run at the end of the half.  Johnson made a three, got a steal, assisted on a layup, and got another steal.  At halftime, it was 34-25 Aggies.  Coach Jans was unhappy as the team went to the locker room.  The 1976 Aggie Missouri Valley Conference winning team was honored on court.  They were also sitting in our section.  It was a popular section.  There was a $1k drawing for the students.  The Sundancers performed a routine on court.  There was also a free Chik-fil-a giveaway, but you had to have their app to claim it, darn it.

Second Half

The Aggies got right back on track.  Gilyard got a steal and McCants got a layup.  Gilyard was fouled shooting a three and converted on all three foul shots.  Those were the first Aggie free throws of the game.  Johnny then dunked in an Ivan miss off the rim.  Jabari had a steal and Johnny hit a three.  The fans went nuts.  Jabari went out to center court to play to the crowd.  It was 44-27 Aggies with 16 minutes left. 

Johnson did put in a dunk going into a timeout.  For the halfcourt putting contest, another pretty and inebriated girl took another bad shot.  The wave went around the crowd.  I kept looking around throughout the game in awe of the full house. 

Ivan was blocked on a shot, but goaltending was called, so it still counted.  Ivan came back with a rebound and a layup and flexed for crowd.  He was then called for a foul on a late whistle.  Him and the announcers complained about the call.  Johnny dunked another one after a rebound.  He was having a monster game.  52-31 Aggies with 11 minutes left. 

Shunn took a charge to go into another timeout.  There was a Raising Canes giveaway in a neighboring section.  I almost sprinted over there.  GCU came out with a full court press and trapping.  It was no help.  Gilyard got a steal.  Jabari got a dunk off of a McCants’ assist.  McNair was back in and got a layup.  Finally.  Those were his first points since last year.  Terrell Brown got a steal and a layup. 

61-34 Aggies with seven minutes left.  Going into another timeout, the whole team was out playing up to the crowd.  The guys were loving performing so well in front of a sellout.  The Cheerleaders did the Pete Pyramid with Pistol Pete on top, as they rotated him around.  The fans roared.

At 64-44 Aggies with five minutes left, some of the crowd started leaving.  Lope Alessandro Lever finally got some points.  I’d remembered him as GCU’s star player last year.  Jabari and Johnny both laid out on court after a rough play.  They playfully pushed and pulled on each other to get up.  The Aggies actually went to a full court press late.  McNair missed on a dunk, got the rebound, and then missed a layup.  You’re almost there, young man.  Keep practicing. 

With 90 seconds left in the game, the local kids came in, Bryce Rewalt and Tennessee Owens.  The crowd gave them a warm ovation.  Jack Nixon on the radio announced that, “The Aggies are feasting on antelope tonight.”  Tennessee got fouled shooting a three, but only made one of the three foul shots.  There might have been some nerves there, in spite of the score.  The Aggies closed it out with a 72-52 win.

Jabari Rice led all scorers with 18 points.  Ivan Aurrecoechea had 14 points.  Then there was Johnny McCants’ night.  He had 17 points, went 7 for 7 shooting, and had 12 rebounds.  Johnny loves playing against GCU.  He was interviewed on the postgame and is such a nice young man.  Carlos Johnson led the Lopes with 15 points.  He was a heck of a competitor.  GCU is having a down year.  They did lose to a DII school to start the season.  The Aggies are still undefeated in conference.   

But never mind all that, the game highlight was passing by Kassi and Autumn in the concourse on the way out.  We also saw one of the senior VP’s from work, and I got to thank her for the game tickets.  The lowlight of the game was getting out of the Pan-Am parking lot.  That took about a half hour.  Ron and I had ice cream afterward at PQ Treats.  (Ice cream is for winners.)  We discussed a crowded upcoming Aggie Sports schedule with Women’s Basketball, Softball, and Baseball.  We’ll have to sort that out this month.  This was a good win and I really enjoyed being a part of such an awesome crowd.