Tag: 2018 Mountain West Basketball

Bragg Leads New Mexico to Sweep Over New Mexico State, 69-62

The New Mexico Lobos defeated the New Mexico State Aggies, 69-62, on Saturday at Dreamstyle Arena in Albuquerque.

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Bragg Leads New Mexico to Sweep Over New Mexico State, 69-62

New Mexico makes it 2-0 against their most prominent rival in 2019-2020

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Players brought out the brooms after the game in honor of the sweep

It wasn’t pretty, but the New Mexico Lobos (10-2, 2-0 MWC) completed the sweep of in-state arch-rivals New Mexico State Aggies (6-6, 0-0 WAC) at Dreamstyle Arena in Albuquerque on Saturday night. The two teams combined for 38 total turnovers en route to the 69-62 final.

Carlton Bragg (17 points, 17 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4 steals) dominated the paint for New Mexico, accruing more than half of his team’s rebounds and finishing 4-5 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line.

During the post-game presser, New Mexico head coach Paul Weir said of Bragg, “His offensive rebounding ability is – it’s professional kind of level stuff. It changes the game for us. His running of the floor has always been terrific. . . I thought [JaQuan] in particular and some other guys really found him in transition and he had some really tremendous finishes, you know, very athletic, agile plays and he’s a great player . . . I think now this is the Carlton that, you know, we wanted when obviously he came here”.

JaQuan Lyle (16 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block) was the only other Lobo to score in double figures, though all eight Lobos that saw floor time scored.

For New Mexico State, four scored in double figures, led by Trevelin Queen (19 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block).

At a glance, the stat sheet tells the story of how the Lobos won the game.

Despite losing many of the statistics-based battles, there was one area where New Mexico really shined – the free throw line. As a team, New Mexico shot 82.1% from the free throw line, making 23 free throws to just 4 made free throws for New Mexico State.

And while it was never enough to break into a double digit lead, it was enough to keep the Aggies at bay, despite making 10 three pointers on the night.

When asked about three-point defense, Weir noted, “Our goal is to make teams beat us from the perimeter. That’s the idea. We keep our bigs out of foul trouble, we own the paint on offense and on defense and so far this year its got us to 10-2.”

And the strategy does seem to be working so far, even when the other team is making threes such as against Green Bay (10 made threes in a 93-78 win), Boise State (14 made three in an 80-78 win), McNeese State (13 made threes in a 90-80 win) and now against New Mexico State.

“Carlton and Corey and JaQuan are tough dudes to guard down there [in the paint] for a full 40 and I think as the game unfolds I think they get more room to kind of operate”.

Up Next: 

New Mexico will stay home to take on the Gran Canyon Antelopes on Tuesday at The Pit on Tuesday.

 

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Lyle, New Mexico, Snap Five Game Losing Streak to New Mexico State With 78-77 Win

New Mexico beat the New Mexico State Aggies on Thursday night in the Pan American Center in Las Cruces.

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Weir, New Mexico, Snap Five Game Losing Streak to New Mexico State With 78-77 Win

Lyle, New Mexico, Snap Five Game Losing Streak to New Mexico State With 78-77 Win

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Lobos split back-to-back rivalry games

JaQuan Lyle (24 points, 2 assists) led all scorers and New Mexico (5-1) beat New Mexico State (2-3) for the first time since November 18, 2016. New Mexico had lost five straight to the Aggies in that time.

In Thursday’s game, the scoring ability that was on display in New Mexico’s first four games was back again in the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, but the defense came too, especially when it mattered.

Down 75-73 with less than two minutes remaining, New Mexico forced New Mexico State into a heavily contested three pointer by Terrell Brown with one second left on the shot clock. A rebound and subsequent outlet pass to JJ Caldwell by Corey Manigault led to a strong drive to the basket by Caldwell plus a foul shot, putting the Lobos up 76-75 after the made free throw.

But a subsequent drive to the basket by Terrell Brown on the other end put the Aggies back up 77-76 with just 1:16 left to play.

On the following possession, Johnny McCants fouled Carlton Bragg while diving for the ball, putting the 73.9% free throw shooter at the line with less than a minute to go.

Sinking both free throws, Bragg put the Lobos up 78-77 and a slew of back-and-forth turnovers between the teams eventually resulted in an offensive opportunity for the Aggies with 14.3 seconds remaining. Opting for the relatively-open three point shot, Jabari Rice couldn’t convert, and a rebounding foul against Ivan Aurrecoechea put Caldwell back on the line. While Caldwell couldn’t convert the front end of the one-and-one, Shunn Buchannan‘s last second heave from 28 feet out wouldn’t go either.

Trevelin Queen (23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) led the way for New Mexico State.

The Aggies were without starters A.J Harris who was sidelined with a finger injury and Clayton Henry who was out with a thumb injury.

The Cherry and Silver will have a few days before heading to Brooklyn to play in the tournament portion of the Legends Classic. They’ll open play Monday with what should be the toughest opponent of the non-conference slate in 19th ranked Auburn.

Notable Team Stats:

The Lobos did more with less, shooting 28-52 from the field compared to New Mexico State’s 28-64. the efficient offense was needed after a shaky offensive showing at UTEP on Tuesday. Free throw shooting was also key to the win, and New Mexico finished with a 75% shooting mark from the line, right around their season average. The plus four margin in free throws and field goal efficiency helped make up for an off-night of rebounding, as they lost the battle of the boards, 29-37.

Stat Stuffers:

New Mexico – JaQuan Lyle (24 points, 2 assists)

UTEP – Trevelin Queen (23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists)

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New Mexico Falls to UTEP, 66-63

The New Mexico Lobos fell to the UTEP Miners, 66-63 on Tuesday November 19 in the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

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New Mexico Falls to UTEP, 66-63

Lobos lose a close one in the Don Haskins Center

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Missed free throws throughout for New Mexico were ultimately the difference in a close one

Daryl Edwards finished with 18 points and four assists and the UTEP Miners defeated the New Mexico Lobos on Tuesday at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas, 66-63.

The Miners got out to a quick start, leading 10-1 early, while the Lobos didn’t hit their first field goal until the 12:57 mark of the first half. The first four points for New Mexico were from the foul line, which is where nearly a third of the Lobos’ scoring came.

A test for New Mexico, the Miners’ defense caused issues especially around the rim, where layups and short jumpers just weren’t falling, resulting in a season-low shooting percentage of 38.8%.

After tying things up 10-10, the game stayed close through the first half, ending with a layup by Efe Odigie to knot the game at 30 apiece. The game stayed within a single possession through much of the second half, including the final minutes of the contest.

Up 62-58, UTEP’s Jordan Lathon was called for a technical foul, sending JaQuan Lyle to the free throw line where he made both, closing the gap to 62-60. A UTEP turnover and foul against the Miners led to a split pair of free throws from JaQuan Lyle and a missed UTEP three pointer allowed for a transition dunk by New Mexico’s Zane Martin, giving the Lobos a 63-62 advantage with just 53 seconds remaining.

But Lathon quickly made up for his previous mistakes with what would be a dagger of a jumper, putting  the Miners back up by one.

A missed three-pointer by New Mexico’s Makuach Maluach followed by a foul and two made free throws by Bryson Williams secured the game for UTEP, despite JaQuan Lyle‘s made (but just a fraction of a second late) half court heave.

New Mexico will stay on the road and head to Las Cruces, New Mexico to take on an injury riddled New Mexico State, which has come out to a rocky start of the season after taking final four contender Auburn to the wire in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Notable Team Stats:

The Lobos out-rebounded the Miners by a 36-31 margin, but were far less efficient offensively than they had been to start the season, shooting ten percent or more below average in about every statistical category (free throws, three point percentage, field goal percentage).

Had New Mexico shot its season average in free throws (74.8%), it would have resulted in three more points, enough to push the game into overtime, or to have prevented the need to foul and instead to have been the team being fouled. The Lobos also posted a season low in assists, tallying only 7 assists in the game.

Although UTEP shot just over a third of the free throws the New Mexico did, the Miners made 84.6% of their freebies, compared with 64.5% mark for the Lobos. The Miners also shared the ball a little better than the Lobos, finishing with 14 assists.

Stat Stuffers:

New Mexico – JaQuan Lyle (19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) ; Carlton Bragg (10 points, 9 rebounds, 1 block)

UTEP – Daryl Edwards (18 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds)

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