Nail-biter to the end
Lobo men edge Aggies 78-77
LAS CRUCES — In the fickle world of college basketball, the bounce of the ball rules all.
Narratives are built and reputations are formed.
On Thursday night in front of an announced Pan American Center crowd of 7,268, a Jabari Rice 3-point attempt hit iron, bouncing out and securing for the UNM Lobos in a frantic final minute of play a much-needed 78-77 win over the New Mexico State Aggies, ending a five-game losing streak in the Rio Grande Rivalry.
The win pushed the Lobos, in the third season under the direction of former Aggies head coach Paul Weir, to 5-1 on the season and, more important for an increasingly uneasy fan base, ended what had become a painful reminder of the lull the program has been dealing with in recent years.
While Weir, who was doused with water in the team locker room after the game — his cherry red sweater was still wet when he came to talk to reporters — dodged questions about the importance of the victory to his tenure at UNM and for the program, his players understood the importance.
“Getting this win meant a lot,
especially for my guy PW,” said senior guard JaQuan Lyle, who scored a gamehigh 24 points in his first action in the series despite having been at UNM now for three seasons.
“We had a very emotional moment after the game. We hugged it out for about two minutes after the game. I’m just happy to see him happy. For the university, I’m just happy we got this one for our all of our fans. We have another big one coming up in a couple of weeks, and hopefully we get that one as well.”
For New Mexico State, which falls to 2-3 and having had a nine-game win streak over rival UTEP end last week in El Paso, Thursday night wasn’t an easy pill to swallow.
“This is new territory for us,” said NMSU head coach Chris Jans.
“It’s new ground for me as a head coach. I’ve never been 2-3. Some of the mystique that I think we’ve had is over. The streaks we’ve had are over. We’re under .500 for the first time since we’ve arrived, if I’m not mistaken. So we’ve got a lot of soul-searching to do.”
NMSU is playing without two starters — starting point guard A.J. Harris and forward Clayton Henry, who are both expected to be out until sometime in December.
Weir started his postgame media session acknowledging what the Aggies are going through, something he had experience with a season ago.
“I’ve been, last year, short guys. I know what it feels like,” said Weir, who recruited Harris to NMSU before taking the UNM job in 2017. “I wish A.J. Harris, obviously, all the health in the world. I kind of feel for those guys right now . ... I went through it last year. We obviously missed several guys for the two games last year (against NMSU), and it’s tough to go through.”
Last year, Lobo Carlton Bragg was sitting out after the NCAA denied an early eligibility waiver and Lyle missed the season due to a torn Achilles.
Thursday, the two 23-year-old roommates led the Lobo charge.
Lyle’s 24 points came on 9-of-14 shooting and he added three steals. Bragg, the 6-foot-10 forward, had 14 points, six rebounds and four steals. Vance Jackson had nine points and seven rebounds, keeping the Aggies from breaking open the game several times in the first half.
Neither team ever held a double digit lead.
NMSU, led by senior guard Trevelin Queen’s 23 points and four assists, hit just 7-of-33 3-pointers (21.2%).