New Mexico State suspends program
New Mexico State indefinitely suspended its men's basketball program Friday night in a virtually unheard-of move that the university says is unrelated to a fatal shooting involving one of its players last year.
The school also placed first-year coach Greg Heiar and his staff on administrative leave for what it said were violations of university policy and separate from the Nov. 19 shooting of a student from rival University of New Mexico. Aggies power forward Mike Peake was suspended in early December while a third-party investigator looks into his involvement in the shooting in Albuquerque.
The shutdown of a Division I program in midseason for reasons other than a spate of injuries or, more recently, a COVID-19 outbreak, is virtually unheard of. SMU's football program canceled its 1988 season after the NCAA handed it the “death penalty” the year before, but that move was made before the season was underway.
New Mexico State's game against California Baptist scheduled for today has been cancelled, and it is unknown how many more of the team's five remaining games, all in the Western Athletic Conference, will also be wiped out.
The program has been teetering since the night of the shooting. Shortly after the shooting, Heiar loaded the team onto a bus and left town, minus Peake and three players who had picked him up and taken him to the hospital with a leg injuries. Police stopped the bus on its way back to the school's campus, three hours south in Las Cruces.
Peake has not been charged in the shooting.
The school's announcement said Friday's move was not related to the shooting and its aftermath. The board of regents released a separate statement saying it supported “the action taken by the university leaders and is confident a full and thorough investigation will be conducted.”
The Aggies had previously canceled the game against the Lobos in Albuquerque that had been scheduled for the day after the shooting, along with the Dec. 3 rematch in Las Cruces.
The Aggies have won seven WAC titles and made eight appearances in March Madness since 2007. They are supposed to move into Conference USA next year. But this year, they have struggled to a 9-15 record under Heiar, who took over for Chris Jans when he left for Mississippi State.
BUTLER 69, NO. 13 XAVIER 67 » Jalen Taylor scored 20 points, Manny Bates added 19 and a goaltending call on Eric Hunter Jr.'s drive to the basket with 2.5 seconds left helped the Bulldogs (13-13, 5-10 Big East) to a home win over the Musketeers.
Souley Boum's long heave at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim for Xavier (19-6, 11-3). Colby Jones had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Jack Nunge had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead the Musketeers.
Women
NO. 18 UCLA 62, OREGON ST. 54 » Gabriela Jaquez scored 14 points, Charisma Osborne had 12 points and 10 rebounds and the host Bruins handed the Beavers their fifth straight loss.
Oregon State took a 5146 lead with 7:13 remaining in the fourth quarter but didn't make another field goal the rest of the way.
UCLA capitalized on back-to-back turnovers, leading to two fast-break layups by Jaquez, during a 12-0 run that gave the Bruins a 58-51 lead.
UCLA (19-6, 8-5 Pac12) finished 3 of 27 from distance, with its first 3-pointer, in 15 attempts, coming with 2:39 left in the third to pull within 43-39.
Bendu Yeaney led Oregon State (11-13, 3-10) with 11 points. Talia von Oelhoffen, averaging 14.5 points per game, was held to four points on 1-of-9 shooting. NO. 7 UTAH 92, WASHINGTON 69 » Gianna Kneepkens hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the Utes at home over the Huskies.
Utah (21-2, 11-2 Pac-12) shot 51% from the field and made 16 3-pointers overall. Alissa Pili added 17 points.
Elle Ladine scored 18 points to lead Washington (13-10, 5-8).
NO. 25 COLORADO 71, WASHINGTON ST. 68 » Jaylyn Sherrod matched her career high of 27 points and Tayanna Jones had a steal in the paint with two seconds left as the Buffaloes held off the visiting Cougars (16-8, 6-7 Pac-12).
Sherrod hit 10 of 12 from the field and was 6 of 7 from the line for the Buffaloes (19-5, 10-3).