New Mexico Falls Short to Oregon 79-75
Nov. 23, 2004
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – Aaron Brooks scored 22 points and freshman Malik
Hairston converted three free throws in the final 22 seconds as Oregon held on
for a 79-75 victory Monday night against New Mexico.
Reserve guard Jordan Kent made his first five shots and 6-of-8 overall en
route to a career-high 14 points, while Ian Crosswhite had 12 and Bryce Taylor
and Hairston scored 11 each.
Danny Granger led the Lobos (4-1) with 19 points and 15 rebounds, while
Alfred Neale had 15. It was New Mexico’s 27th straight road loss.
Hairston went to the line with 22 seconds left and Oregon nursing a slim
75-73 lead. He sank both to put the Ducks up by four.
Then with just under seven seconds, Hairston scored on the second of two
attempts to again put the Ducks back up by four, 79-75, giving Oregon a
two-shot lead.
Brooks, who also had a team-high eight assists and six rebounds, made four
of the Ducks’ (2-0) eight 3-pointers.
A 7-0 run by Oregon built its lead to 61-52, but New Mexico fought back,
eventually closing the gap to 65-64 with under seven minutes to play. David
Chiotti had the chance to give the Lobos the lead, but the Lobo center missed a
pair of free-throw attempts and the Ducks followed with an 8-0 run to rebuild
their lead to 73-64 with less than three minutes left in the game.
A 3-pointer by Neale near the end of the first half gave the Lobos a 43-41
advantage at the break.
Granger had 14 of his points in the first half, as he made 6-of-11 shots to
go with eight rebounds. Brooks scored 13 in the first half, nine coming on
three 3-pointers, as Oregon opened the game shooting 56 percent from the field.