The New Mexico State University Aggies men’s basketball team hit the road to face the University of Texas El Paso Miners for their second bout of the Battle of I-10. The Aggies were unable to secure a sweep in the rivalry, losing 74-49. This continues their trend of being winless on the road, as they are now 0-10 when not playing at home and 11-12 overall. The Aggies offensive struggles and high number of turnovers were the largest factor in their loss, as they put up the second least number of points than any other game this season.
The starting lineup was forward Kaosi Ezeagu, and at guard Jordan Rawls, Christian Cook, Femi Odukale, and Jaden Harris.
The first half had the Aggies on the backfoot from the start, being unable to score at the beginning of the game to being down 12-0 after the first five minutes.
The Aggies then proceeded to go on an unanswered 7-0 scoring run after a basket from Harris but were unable to continue their momentum forward. Despite a layup from Rawls and a pair of three-pointers from Harris, the Aggies trailed for the rest of the half and remained unable to take the lead entering halftime down 35-27.
The Aggies had low shooting percentages as whole going into half time, with a lackluster 39.1% from the field and a poor 18.2% from the arc. The team remained consistent as usual from the free throw line shooting 70%. The Aggies were able to rack up a solid 17 rebounds total but posted a high turnover percentage of 38.9%.
The second half saw the Aggies return to the court with a strong offensive effort, outscoring the Miners 9-5 in the first five minutes and even shortening the lead gap to 42-36. The Aggies petered out after this though and would go on to only score eight points over the next seven minutes. They allowed the Miners 12 more unanswered points with 5:28 left and finished the game with a 74-49 loss.
The Aggies offensive stats looked no better in the second half, with all their shooting percentages decreasing to finish the night 34.6% from the field, 10.5% from three and 68.8 from the free throw. The team totaled 33 rebounds overall and turned the ball over on 28.6% of their total possessions.
Harris led the team in scoring with a hefty 20 points, followed by guard Tanahj Pettway’s nine points. Ezeagu had the most total rebounds at seven, then Harris and guard Keylon Dorsey both had four.
The Aggies will have another chance to break their away-game losing streak when they travel to play the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 5:30 p.m. in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and aired on Zia Country 99.5 FM.
