LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team fell to New Mexico State Saturday night in Las Cruces, 84-71. The Lobos are now 6-4 on the season.
Elijah Brown led the Lobos for the fourth straight game, finishing with 18 points. He was 5-for-14 from the field, 1-for-9 from the three and 7-for-9 from the foul line. Tim Williams finished with 15 points in his first game back after suffering a concussion. He was 6-for-9 from the field and 3-for-5 from the foul line. He was the team’s leading rebounder with eight. Dane Kuiper came off the bench and also finished with 15 points, a career-high. He was 6-for-9 from the field and 3-for-5 from the three.
For the game, the Lobos shot 44.8 percent from the field, 23.5 percent from the three and 65.2 percent from the foul line. The Lobos outscored the Aggies 33-24 off the bench and 38-26 inside the paint. The Lobos also won the advantage on second chance points, 10-9, and on fast breaks, 6-2.
The game started slow for the Lobos as they scored at the 19:14 mark but didn’t get another score until 15:15. They had three turnovers within the first four minutes of the game and allowed New Mexico State to take 10-2 lead into the first media timeout.
New Mexico worked their way back, going on a 9-0 run in the next three minutes, getting seven points from Kuiper. He brought the Lobos within one, 12-11, with 12:56 left in the half. NMSU went back up by five but the Lobos brought the game back within one at the 6:42 mark off two good free throws from Brown. NMSU took control of the rest of the half, leading 43-26.
The Lobos came out in the second half on an 11-1 run and didn’t allow the Aggies to score a field goal before the first media timeout of the half. Tim Williams hit a jumper with 14:39 left in the game to bring the Lobos within three but that was the closest they came the rest of the game.
New Mexico State went back up by 12 with 11:53 left to play. The Lobos brought the game back within seven on two occasions, one at the 10:06 mark and again at the 8:20 mark. The Lobos tried to get in an offensive rhythm but only scored 12 points the rest of the way.
New Mexico returns home next Saturday for its final nonconference home game. The Lobos will face Arkansas Pine-Bluff inside The Pit at 6 p.m. The game will be available on ROOT Sports.