LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State Aggies fell victim to the hot shooting of New Mexico Lobo Elijah Brown as UNM invaded the Pan American Center and grabbed an 83-74 win on Sunday night.
 
Brown scored 31 points, 20 in the first half, to lead the Lobos (2-0) in the Rio Grande Rivalry victory. The Aggies (1-1) suffered their first loss at home since December of 2014.
 
"It hurts to lose a rivalry game," said NM State head coach Marvin Menzies. "It has a different kind of taste, a different kind of sting, a different kind of pain. Hats off to Craig (Neal). His team did an excellent job of coming into Cruces and playing really good basketball."
 
The Aggies jumped out to an early nine-point lead, only to see UNM come back at the end of the first half thanks to Brown's heroics. His off balance fade away at the buzzer gave UNM a 39-38 lead and the Lobos never trailed again.
 
"Elijah Brown was really phenomenal tonight. He was as good as advertised. We knew he was hot and we knew he was a shooter. He showed us some different facets of the game since high school."
 
While the Lobos built up a 12-point lead with 8:52 to play before the Aggies made a valiant comeback.
 
Using a 12-3 run, NM State cut the lead to 71-68 with 4:42 to play on a layup by sophomore forward Pascal Siakam who led the Aggies with 23 points on the night.
 
The Lobos missed the next shot, but Brown got the tipped rebound and turned it into a three-point play to end the run.
 
"It's one of those games where you've got multiple, multiple lessons that you can teach a young team," said Menzies. "When we learn from those things, it will benefit us down the road."
 
In addition to Siakam's 23 points, the native of Douala, Cameroon grabbed eight rebounds, blocked four shots and shot 50 percent from the floor.
 
The Aggies got 19 points from junior Ian Baker of Washington, D.C., while sophomore Braxton Huggins of Bakersfield, Calif., added 14 points.
 
Sophomore Tanveer Bhullar of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
 
In addition to Brown's 31, the Lobos got 18 points from Cullen Neal.
 
The Aggies shot 40 percent from the floor for the game, 36 percent in the second half. UNM hit 45 percent from the field, and outrebounded the Aggies 37-34.
 
"We had really good looks, we just missed. We had great defense late, we just didn't finish plays," Menzies said. "But we've got a lot to cheer about, and we've got a lot to feel good about this team. Losing never feels good, and losing to your rivals feels worse. We'll take the sting and move forward."
 
The Aggies have now dropped three straight to UNM, and will have a chance to even the season series on Dec. 16 when the teams play in Albuquerque.
 
NM State continues its seaso-opening homestand on Wednesday at 7 p.m. hosting Tennessee Tech at the Pan American Center.