LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Less than a month after taking a 85-57 victory in El Paso, the Aggies returned home in front of a crowd of 8,941 for a highly anticipated matchup with I-10 rival UTEP. In a late tense contest, NM State (12-11, 5-5 CUSA) fell to UTEP (16-7, 6-5 CUSA) by a score of 66-63.
After absorbing an opening blow from the visiting Miners that left the Aggies in a nine-point hole just seven minutes into the game, a pair of threes off the bench from Jaden Harris and Gabe Pickens helped keep the Aggies within striking distance. Eventually, NM State would apply some paint pressure to get going offensively as free throws from Emmanuel Tshimanga and Robert Carpenter bookended an 11-1 run to pull the Aggies within one with just over three minutes left in the half.
Despite the Aggies shooting, just 23% (7-30) from the floor in the opening stanza, Coach Jason Hooten's style of high-pressure defense forced their opponent into seven turnovers and held the Miners to a similarly poor 38.5% (10-26) from the field. The Miners would get a layup to fall during the final minute of the first half to leave the Aggies in the trail position by four points at the break.
After a first half in which Emmanuel Tshimanga more than doubled his season average, he would continue to produce early in the second as three of the Aggies' first five points came from the Canadian to leave the score at 30-29 in favor of UTEP with 17:27 left in the half.
Needing a spell, Emmanuel Tshimanga took a seat while his substitution and younger brother, Nate Tshimanga, hammered home a two-handed dunk to end a three-plus minute drought without a field goal and keep the Aggies within two points (33-31) with 16:22 remaining. Following a 6-0 run for the Miners that increased the deficit to eight, true freshman Gabe Pickens would pull the Aggies back within five as he used every part of the rim to knock down his second 3-pointer of the night.
Nearing the midway point of the second half, the Miners extended their lead to nine when Peter Filipovity began to leave his mark on the game as he tallied an assist on a Zawdie Jackson made layup before finding the bottom of the net himself to help the Aggies cut the lead down to three points with 10:09 to play.
The Aggies would continue to struggle offensively in the second half as they were just 5-15 from the floor across the first 15 minutes of the frame. However, their ability to get to the charity stripe would keep them in the game as NM State took 17 free throws and made 12 during this stretch to remain down just a handful of points with 7:29 left on the clock.
At the 5:10 mark, Robert Carpenter would notch the sixth field goal of the second half for the Aggies to begin a five-point individual run that brought the Crimson & White within two points. A timely three from David Terrell Jr. put the Miners back up by five approaching the one-minute mark before Christian Cook responded with a 3-pointer of his own to set the score at 59-57 in favor of the Miners with 60 seconds to play.
Following a Christian Cook block that sailed out of bounds, UTEP used the second opportunity to draw up an out-of-bounds play that resulted in a dunk for Kevin Kalu that gave the Miners a four-point lead with 38 seconds left.
The Aggies would continue to convert on the offensive end, however, the Miners were able to make their free throws down the stretch to keep the Aggies at bay. Finally, UTEP missed a free throw with eight seconds left that gave the Aggies one final chance to tie the game with a last-second three. A shot at the buzzer from Christian Cook nearly dropped but hit front iron to allow the Miners to escape with a 66-63 win.
NUMBERS OF NOTE
· Emmanuel Tshimanga tallied his first double-digit scoring performance in the Crimson & White - finishing the night with 13 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes of action. Tshimanga also tallied a career day at the free-throw line - sinking 9-of-12.
· Joining Tshimanga in double-figures was Christian Cook (12 points); on the season Cook has now scored 10 or more in 19 of the Aggies' 23 contests.
· Falling by a final score of 66-63, NM State drops to 1-4 when scoring 60-69 points this season - two in a row following the 101-69 loss to WKU on Feb. 1.
· Gabe Pickens scored a career-high in a single game (2-for-2) from the perimeter against the Miners.
· For the second time in the last three games, true freshman Jae'Coby Osborne tied his career high in boards with three.
· The Aggies' 22 made free throws is the second most this season, only behind the game against Texas A&M Corpus Christi in which the Aggies made 26 free throws.
· The Crimson & White struggled from the field on the night, shooting a season-low 30.4% (17-56) from the floor.
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