MORAGA, Calif. – NM State (5-4, 0-0 WAC) learned Wednesday night it has some growing to do in order to be where it wants to be when March rolls around as they fell 81-68 to Saint Mary's (9-3, 0-0 WCC) to conclude a 10-day road trip.
In the scoring column, the Aggies were led by junior guard
Deshawndre Washington who finished the night with a game-high 20 points while shooting 50% from the field. Washington's running mate
Xavier Pinson finished second on the Aggies in scoring as he tallied 12 points and the Aggies' lone assist of the night.
Marchelus Avery (11) and DaJuan Gordon each (10) also both finished in double-figures while
Shakiru Odunewu and
Issa Muhammad paced the Aggies with four rebounds apiece.
The Gaels controlled the glass during the mid-week contest as they outrebounded the Aggie 43-25, including hauling in 11 offensive rebounds that turned into 15 second-chance points. Another area the Aggies struggled in was shooting the ball from deep, finishing the night just 4-12 from long range – five makes below their season average in three-pointers per game.
Saint Mary's finished the night with four scorers in double figures, including Kyle Bowen (16), Aiden Mahaney (14) and Alex Ducas (12) who each made four three-pointers.
FIRST HALF
- Following an empty first possession, NM State responded to a Saint Mary's three with a three-pointer of its own as Deshawndre Washington lost his defender at the top of the key and hit a step-back jumper.
- Washington was responsible for much of the Aggies' early production, scoring five of the first 11 NM State points. However, these 11 points would be all that the Aggies could muster through the first 12:02 while Saint Mary's posted 23 points, including five three-pointers – three of which came from the Gaels' leading scorer Alex Ducas.
- The Aggies finally found their footing late in the half as they turned in an 11-1 run across 3:40 of the final 4:26 in the first half. The run was highlighted by a pair of jumpers from Washington and two free throws each from both DaJuan Gordon and James Beck.
- Despite the strong push, Saint Mary's still regained momentum with an and-one from big man Mitchell Saxen with 31 seconds left on the clock to put NM State behind by nine headed into the intermission.
- In total, the Aggies shot just 35% from the field in the first half while SMC managed to finish the first 20 minutes with a 52% success rate, including going 7-16 from beyond the arc. However, the Aggies did take care of the ball – turning it over just three times.
SECOND HALF
- After a little uptick in promise to close the half, Issa Muhammad scored on the Aggies' first possession out of the locker room to cut the lead to seven points.
- Unfortunately, the home side would then put together an 11-2 run to more-than-double the lead less than four minutes into the second period (46-30).
- It was about this time that Xavier Pinson, who scored just two points in the first half, got going offensively as he scored nine of the next 14 Aggie points. However, the deficit would remain at 16 as Gael freshman Aidan Mahaney hit a trio of three-pointers in the first 6:20 of the half.
- The Aggies would eventually find themselves down as much as 24 points with just 5:13 to play when Muhammad got a layup to fall before Marchelus Avery earned two points plus and-one opportunity that he would convert. Avery later knocked down a three-pointer to trim the lead to 16 points with 3:10 to play.
- Perhaps the best highlight of the game came in the final minute of play when Deshawndre Washington came up with a steal and turned it into an emphatic dunk over a Saint Mary's defender on the other end.
- Washington would also put in his 19th and 20th points of the evening with one second remaining to put the final score at 81-68 in favor of Saint Mary's
NUMBERS OF NOTE
- Marchelus Avery finished with his highest point total (11) since the season opener against New Mexico Highlands to mark the second time he has scored 10 or more points. He also turned in a season-high four made free throws and a season-best two blocks.
- Xavier Pinson finished with double-digits (12) for the third-straight game and the seventh time in the last eight Aggie contests.
- DaJuan Gordon also reached double figures for the third time in a row as he finished with 10 points.
- Deshawndre Washington scored 20-plus points for the second time this season with the previous time coming just two games ago.
- After scoring 90 or more points in three of the first five tilts, NM State has failed to eclipse 80 points in each of its last four games.
- NM State's rebound total of 25 marked the lowest of the season and the fewest since March 13, 2021, when they pulled down 25 boards on the road against Grand Canyon.
- 43 rebounds is also the most this Aggie team has allowed any opponent to collect this season.
++NM State++
