SPOKANE, Wash.-The New Mexico State men’s basketball team’s upset bid over No. 12 Michigan State fell just short, 70-67, Friday, March 19 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash. The No. 12 seed Aggies finished the season 22-12 while the No. 5 seed Spartans moved to 25-8.
Sophomore forward Troy Gillenwater scored a team-high 17 points along with 11 rebounds for the game’s lone double-double, which was his third of the season. Senior guard Jonathan Gibson added 16 points in his final game as an Aggie while junior guard Jahmar Young supplied 13.
At halftime, NM State trailed Michigan State, 42-29, but the Aggies came out firing in the second half with a 13-2 run in the first 4:03 of play. Young started the rally with a pair of baskets to cut the Spartan lead to nine, 42-33, within a minute of action.
Sophomore center Hamidu Rahman scored his first bucket of the game and then followed with a put-back on the next possession to trim the Spartan lead to five, 42-37, at 17:42. The Aggie offensive surge continued when Gibson sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 16:48 remaining to bring NM State within two, 44-42.
At 11:41, the Aggies took their first lead of the second half, 53-52, on a junior guard Gordo Castillo baseline 3-pointer. NM State out-scored Michigan State, 24-10, in first eight minutes of the second period.
After five lead changes, the game was tied, 63-63, following two free throws from Gibson with 4:36 to play. Michigan State scored the next four points before junior forward Wendell McKines hit 1-of-2 free throws at the 1:28 mark to cut the Spartan lead to 67-64.
Michigan State made a free throw to extend the advantage to 68-64, before Gillenwater nailed a 3-pointer with 18.6 seconds left in regulation to bring the Aggies within one, 68-67. The Spartans made both free throws on the next possession, and the Aggies couldn’t get a 3-pointer to fall in the final seconds.
In the first half, the Spartans built a 10-point advantage, 24-14, with 10:29 to play when the NM State offense stalled, and the Aggies didn’t score for over four minutes. Young broke the spell and hit two free throws at the 9:13 mark.
The Aggies settled in and started a run when Castillo hit a 3-pointer from the corner at 4:22. McKines followed with a 3-point play at the 3:19 mark. Gillenwater then added a pair of baskets for the Aggies to pull within 10 points, 39-29 with a 1:01 before the intermission.
At the break, Gibson posted a team-high 11 points including 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc while Gillenwater had eight points and eight rebounds.
Courtesy: Tim Barnett-Queen
