ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – It is always a tough battle with New Mexico State, but the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team came out on top in Friday night’s Rio Grande Rivalry, 72-59, behind a combined 39 points from senior Tim Williams and junior Elijah Brown. The Lobos improve to 3-0 on the season.
“I was really proud,” said head coach Craig Neal. “…Because of how hard they played, how hard they competed. That is what I was looking for. If they continue to do that, they can be really good.”
Williams put together his third straight double-digit game with 20 points. He was 5-for-11 from the field and 10-for-13 from the free throw line. Brown finished with 19 points, his best game thus far in 2016-17. He went 6-for-17 from the field and 6-for-8 from the foul line. He also picked up eight rebounds.
The first half was close as the Lobos and the Aggies stayed within just a few of each other for most of the half. The Lobos went into the first media timeout with a 10-8 lead but capitalized on a 5-0 run and a couple of defensive stops to go up 21-17 with 5:19 left in the half. The Aggies didn’t get another score until just under the four-minute mark.
Junior Joe Furstinger made his first appearance of the season and sparked the Lobos offense at the 2:55 mark with a three-point play, Lobos leading 26-23. But a feisty New Mexico State squad brought it within one and eventually took the lead after a three with 49 seconds left in the half, leading the Lobos 30-29.
It was defense in the second half that allowed the Lobos to expand their lead. New Mexico State scored at the 18:21 mark, but the Lobos didn’t allow a bucket until 11:24. In that scoring drought for the Aggies, the Lobos put together a 13-0 run, including big points from junior Sam Logwood, and forced NMSU to a timeout with 11:50 left to play.
“I thought our defense was a lot better,” said Neal.”I thought their focus was a lot better, just because of how hard they played. We’ll figure some things out and tweak some things,but if they play that hard, they can be really good.”
NMSU came out of the timeout and went on an 8-0 run.The Lobos put together a consistent offense the rest of the way to shut down the Aggies, including a big three from Brown at the 6:39 mark. The Lobos finished with just three turnovers in the second half.
For five of the final seven minutes, the Lobos did not allow an Aggie field goal. The Lobos shot 51.9 percent (14-27) to the Aggies 28.6 percent (8-28) in the second half.
New Mexico out-rebounded the Aggies 40-35 and shot 44.4 percent (24-54) from the field to the Aggies 35.8 percent (19-53). The Lobos scored 20 points off of NMSU’s 20 turnovers and picked up a 17-12 advantage off the bench.
Logwood was the other Lobo in double-digits on the night, scoring 12 points. He finished with a team-high four assists. Freshman Damien Jefferson, who sparked the Lobo defense, finished with seven points and a team-high four steals. Furstinger finished with seven points.
The Lobos will be off for a little less than a week as they head to the Wooden Legacy Classic tournament in California over Thanksgiving. The Lobos will match-up against Virginia Tech first on Nov. 24 at 2:30 p.m. MT. That game will be televised on ESPN.