The Aggie men's basketball team lost 97-87 to the Lobos on Tuesday night (check out the photos from last night's game in our Gameday Gallery). After falling behind by 16 points by halftime, the Aggies were quickly down 19 in their own building. However, the Aggies, unlike Friday night against St. Mary's, showed some resolve and fought back and took a four point lead with 10 minutes left to play in the game. Unfortunately the Aggies ran out of gas in the comeback and after the Lobos retook the lead, the Aggies were unable to regain the lead a second time.

First the good parts about last night's game. The comeback. It was encouraging to see the Aggies put up a fight and go down swinging. It was something that they did not do on Friday night. Second, the defense in the second half. That was the first time this season the Aggies have played good defense. They held the Lobos to 35 ercent shooting in the second half after allowing the Lobos to shoot 64.5 percent in the first half. Third, Jahmar Young's second half. After being nearly invisible for the first half of one of the biggest games of the season, Jahmar Young exploded for 22 points in the second half and led the Aggie comeback attempt. Fourth, free throw shooting. The Aggies shot 36 free throws and converted 27. Finally, the turnovers, the Aggies only had 14 turnovers.

Now the not so good. The defense in the first half. In the first half the Aggies allowed UNM to shoot 64.5 percent from the floor and hit 7-of-12 threes, nearly all of them uncontested. Second, the offense. Despite shooting 46.4 percent in the first half, the Aggies once again looked out of sync offensively. Every basket they got in the first half was a chore, while nearly every basket UNM scored looked entirely too easy. Third, rebounding. The Aggies simply could not grab a key rebound in the final 10 minutes of the game. The Aggies had several different chances late in the game to keep themselves at a four or six point deficit but instead gave up the offensive rebound and tip in. Fifth, Roman Martinez. Simply put, he out hustles everyone on the court. He's is to the Lobos what Wendell McKines is to the Aggies.

Now the really not so good. The Aggies have given up 197 points in two games. Despite the strong second half effort and the Aggies holding the Lobos to 35.3 percent shooting, UNM still scored 45 points in the half. Giving up 100 and 97 points in back to back games piqued our curiosity. At the risk of appearing as though we're piling on the defense (and we're not), we were curious when the last time an Aggie basketball team had given up that many points in back-to-back games. The answer?

You have to go back 20 years to the 1989-1990 season to find back-to-back games in which the Aggies gave up that many points. That season the Aggies lost 90-85 at Long Beach State and then followed it up with a 111-92 loss to Loyola Marymount in the NCAA Tournament a total of 201 pints in two games. In the 1983-1984 season the Aggies gave up an equal number of points, 197, in back-to-back losses to UC-Irvine (110-78) and UNLV (87-66). In the 1979-1980 season the Aggies gave up 114 points to Southern Illinois, a loss that was bookended by an 86-79 loss to Illinois State and a 79-69 loss to Drake, a total of 278 points in three games. In the 1970-1978 season the Aggies gave up a whopping 226 points in back-to-back games with a 120-97 loss at UT-Pan American followed up by a 106-78 loss at UNM.

None of that however, compares to the 1965-1966 season. The Aggies finished 4-22 that season and the Aggies, to be perfectly honest, were absolutely terrible. Of ther 22 losses, they gave up 100 points or more in 14 of them with the largest margin of defeat a 105-49 loss to Hardin-Simmons. Their average loss was 100-75. It's no wonder that was Jim McGregor's only season as head coach of the Aggies.

We stopped checking scores prior to the mid 1950s because the scores started looking like Big Ten basketball scores circa 2009 and forget about checking the 1900s through 1920s. Those scores looked more like beer league softball scores than basketball scores and opponents were the likes of the powerhouse YMCA squads and high schools (if you think we're joking, check the Aggie media guide for yourself).

The Aggies lace 'em up again on Saturday afternoon against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Hopefully the Aggies can build on the positive second half they put up against the Lobos.

Check out this week's interview with Aggie head women's basketball coach Darin Spence. Coach Spence and the Aggies are themselves still working on their defense and getting it to where Coach Spence expects it to be. The Aggies opened up the season with a road split at CS-Northridge and Cal Poly and this Friday they open up the home schedule against Long Beach State at 7:00 p.m. in the Pan Am.

On to today's links...

Aggie Men's Basketball
Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News recaps last night's loss.

Teddy Feinberg of the Las Cruces Sun-News writes that the Lobos were simply the better team.

David Chavez of The Round Up recaps the Aggies' loss to UNM.

Isaac Avilucea of The Daily Lobo recaps last night's loss to UNM.

The Sports Network recaps the Aggie loss.

The UNM athletic website recaps the Aggies' loss to the Lobos.

Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News blogs his thoughts on the loss.

The Examiner reports that former Aggie recruit Faisal Aden has inked with Washington State.

Aggie Football
Teddy Feinberg of the Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the Aggies expect running back Seth Smith to play against Nevada on Saturday.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that Nevada safety Duke Williams has been suspended for the Aggie-Wolf Pack game.

Dan HInxman of the Reno Gazette-Journal talks about the Nevada offensive line.

The Sports Network previews Saturday's game.

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