Aggies to take aim at reaching .500 in WAC
Aztecs beat Broncos, take over first in MWC
As implausible as it may sound, the New Mexico State men’s basketball team (6-6, 3-5 WAC) hopes to rally and reach the .500 mark in Western Athletic Conference play as it begins its two-game road series against Tarleton State (7-9, 2-6) on Friday in Stephenville, Texas.
Friday’s game streams online on ESPN+, while Saturday’s contest can be watched on WAC Digital Network. Both games air at 6 p.m. on 99.5 FM in Las Cruces.
New Mexico State, the three-time defending league champion, split its “home” series against Utah Valley last weekend in El Paso, suffering a 69-66 loss in Game 1 before earning a 67-60 win in Game 2.
Jabari Rice showed out for the Aggies. The redshirt junior averaged 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists per game en route to a WAC Player of the Week nomination. Senior point guard Evan Gilyard II averaged 12.5 points, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, with no turnovers.
Still, NMSU’s offense struggled, shooting a combined 43-for-115 from the floor (37.4%), 15-for-52 (28.8%) on 3s.
Tarleton State split its road series against Dixie State last weekend. The Texans are led by Montre Gipson, a 5-foot-11 junior who is averaging team highs of 14.5 points and 2.9 assists per contest while shooting 53.1% from the floor and 51.2% from distance.
Tarleton forces a turnover on 23.3 percent of opponents’ possessions, ranking 35th in the country, so look for the Aggies to score before the Texans can get set up.
Thursday games
No. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 78, BOISE STATE 66 (OT): In San Diego, Matt Mitchell scored 24 points, including four in overtime, and San Diego State overcame 29 points by Derrick Alston Jr. to beat Boise State for its ninth straight win.
Trey Pulliam matched his career high with 18 for SDSU, which blew a 17-point second-half lead before recovering in overtime to take the inside track to repeat as Mountain West Conference regular-season champion.
SDSU (18-4, 12-3) took a half-game lead over Boise State (18-5, 14-4), which had its four-game win streak snapped. On Tuesday, the Mountain West awarded San Diego State a pair of forfeit victories over New Mexico.
Those games do not count in SDSU’s overall or formal conference record, but will count for seeding and conference championship implications.
That means the Aztecs control their destiny. They host BSU again Saturday and then finish with a rescheduled game at UNLV on Wednesday night.
No. 3 MICHIGAN 79, No. 9 IOWA 57: In Ann Arbor, Mich., Hunter Dickinson gave Luka Garza fits around the basket, and Franz Wagner scored 21 points to lead Michigan to a victory over Iowa.
The Wolverines (17-1, 12-1) passed yet another test against a highly ranked opponent, and they look increasingly alone atop the Big Ten, where every other team has at least four conference losses. Dickinson more than held his own against Garza in a much-anticipated matchup of two star big men.
Garza led the Hawkeyes (17-7, 11-6) with 16 points.
No. 1 GONZAGA 89, SANTA CLARA 75: In Spokane, Wash., Corey Kispert scored 25 points, Drew Timme had 16 of his 18 points in the second half and Gonzaga won its 50th straight at home, beating Santa Clara.
The Bulldogs (23-0, 14-0 West Coast Conference) won their 27th straight overall dating to last season.
Guglielmo Caruso led Santa Clara (10-7, 4-5) with 19 points.
MICHIGAN STATE 71, No. 4 OHIO STATE 67: In East Lansing, Mich., Aaron Henry had 18 points to help Michigan State improve its chances of making the NCAA Tournament with a win over Ohio State, two days after coach Tom Izzo’s team beat No. 5 Illinois by nine points.
The Spartans (13-9, 7-9 Big Ten) rallied from a nine-point, second-half deficit with Gabe Brown finishing with 11 points and Josh Langford making key plays at both ends of the court.
The Buckeyes are 18-6, 12-6.
No. 5 ILLINOIS 86, NEBRASKA 70:
In Champaign, Ill., Kofi Cockburn scored 24 points, freshman Adam Miller added 18 and Illinois beat Nebraska.
Illinois (17-6, 13-4 Big Ten) played without star Ayo Dosunmu, who broke his nose Tuesday against Michigan State and is expected to miss at least two more games.
Trey McGowens led Nebraska (5-17, 1-14) with 18 points.
No. 12 HOUSTON 81, WESTERN KENTUCKY 57: In Houston, Quentin Grimes scored a career-high 33 points and had six rebounds to help Houston beat Western Kentucky.
Marcus Sasser and Tramon Mark each had 12 points, and DeJon Jarreau had nine points for Houston (19-3). Houston forced the Hilltoppers (15-5) into 20 turnovers,
COLORADO 80, No. 19 USC 62: In Boulder, Colo., Jeriah Horne hit a career-best six 3-pointers on his way to 24 points as Colorado routed Southern California to sweep the season series.
McKinley Wright IV added 15 points for the Buffaloes (18-7, 12-6 Pac-12), who have won six straight against the Trojans (19-5, 13-4).
Women
NMSU: The Aggies (5-10, 3-5) host Tarleton State (7-12, 3-5) in a two-game WAC set at 1 p.m. both Friday and Saturday at Eastwood High in El Paso. They are the last two “home” games for NMSU this season. Pandemicrelated public health order guidelines are prohibiting play at New Mexico State.