LOGAN, Utah — New Mexico put up a valiant effort, but injuries and foul trouble certainly took its toll and Utah State used a 10-1 run midway through the second half to pull away for a 79-75 win over New Mexico at the Glen Dee Smith Spectrum. The Lobos dropped to 9-6 and 2-1 in the Mountain West while Utah State improved to 7-7 and 1-2 in the league.
The Lobos got a yeoman’s effort from Tim Williams, who scored 30 points, his second game this season breaking the 30-point barrier. However, it was pretty much up to Williams as Elijah Brown played just nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, and then he was whistled twice within 11 seconds just 1:23 into the second half, putting him out of the game for the next 13 minutes. That, combined with Xavier Adams’ missing after suffering a first half knee injury, and Jordan Hunter being out with an ankle injury, and the offense ran through Williams.
“I thought Tim Williams was terrific tonight he just did everything we asked him to do. You have to give credit to them, they played really well,” said head coach Craig Neal. “You can’t allow a team that is scrapping and clawing for their first win to score 79 points. I told the team we can’t put them on the line and we gave them 28 free throws, and that’s what we do.”
He was completely up to the task. Williams finished the game 13-for-18 from the field, 4-for-5 from the line and a team-high seven boards. Williams’ layup with 9:36 to go gave UNM a 56-53 lead, but from there the Aggies got four out of five free throws from Koby McEwen surrounded around a Williams free throw to tie the game at 57. McEwen then hit a three-pointer for a 60-57 lead and then Quinn Taylor hit a free throw and then a layup for a 10-1 run, a 63-57 lead.
Williams scored on back-to-back possessions to cut it back to 63-61, but Jalen Moore tipped in his own miss, then after a missed three-pointer by UNM, Taylor also followed a short miss with a follow, and McEwen hit a jumper, pushing the lead back to 69-61. It stayed in that range, and even though Brown returned to the game and scored eight points in the final five minutes, it wasn’t enough.
UNM drew close late when Brown and Dane Kuiper hit threes in the waning moments, but over UNM was just 4-for-12 from three, while Utah State went 10-for-22. Another key stat was rebounding, as Utah State scored grabbed 12 offensive boards.
“This is only our first loss,” acknowledged Neal. “It’s a long conference season and hopefully we can have everyone back. We just have to play a little smarter and a little more mature. It was a perfect opportunity for us to come in here and get a win because of the weather and no one was here, but we didn’t take advantage of that.”
Williams was practically unstoppable in the first half, as he hit for an even 20 points, draining 9-of-11 shots and both of his free throws. His baskets came from all over, regardless of a double team, or distance from the basket. His big half was needed when Elijah Brown was limited to just nine minutes due to foul trouble and Xavier Adams played just eight after hurting his knee driving to the hoop.
Down 8-4, UNM rolled with a 9-1 run to take the lead, a lead they would hold until Utah State got hot from the field. It took a while, but a run of nine made field goals on 10 shots finally gave Utah State the lead at the 3:05 mark at 34-32. However, William went back to work. He tied the game at 34-34 with a layup, and then a short jumper in the lane gave UNM the lead.
Down one, his two free throws gave UNM a 38-37 lead at the break.
Williams and Brown were the only Lobos in double figures with 30 and 17 respectively. Jalen Harris had eight assists, which was easily his career-high. His previous best was four. For Utah State, Jalen Moore had 20, Koby McEwen 18, Sam Merrill 13 and Quinn Taylor 10. UNM lost despite shooting over 50% from the field, hitting 28-of-52 (.528).
The Lobos will look to get back on track as they return home Saturday to face Nevada. Tip-off is set for 9:15 p.m. inside WisePies Arena and will be available on ESPN2.