Written by: Jason Groves/Sun-News Reporter
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - For the 6,689 listed in attendance, it was hard to tell which team was fighting for its life in fifth place and which was in second place in the Western Athletic Conference.
Nevada defeated New Mexico State University 87-78 on Thursday at the Pan American Center, beating the Aggies for the fifth time in the last six meetings.
"We didn't start out like we wanted to and they got on a run and that was the difference in the game," NMSU senior forward Justin Hawkins said. "From the opening tip, we didn't play the way we wanted to play as far as tempo."
Neither team could find the mark early, but the Wolf Pack woke up long enough for a 19-5 run in the first half and were never truly threatened, cruising past an Aggies team that lost a golden opportunity to score a big conference win at home. The Wolf Pack shot a blistering 64 percent in the second half to seal the win.
"We tried to change up defenses and mix it up, but they did a phenomenal job shooting the ball," Aggies head coach Marvin Menzies said. "We didn't match their intensity from the beginning of the game."
Wolf Pack freshman point guard Armon Johnson was too much for the Aggies on the perimeter. Johnson scored 20 points and added four assists. Sophomore guard Brandon Fields led the Wolf Pack with 21 points and senior Marcelus Kemp scored 17.
"Our guard play is getting better," Johnson said. "We've had to grow up this year. Brandon is doing a great job and he's getting better. I've learned a lot this year, it's a matter of maturity."
Nevada increased an 11-point halftime advantage to 17 with less than 13 minutes left, as both teams shot the ball better in the second half. Unfortunately for the Aggies, they couldn't get stops on the defensive end.
Johnson got to the paint and set the table for teammates, including a wide-open Kemp. The league's second leading scorer coming in, Kemp scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half. Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer of his own from 23 feet out as the shot clock expired to put Nevada up 62-47 with 11:05 to play.
"I have to give credit to their guards because they came out and played and delivered a big blow," said Aggies freshman guard Jahmar Young, who led the Aggies with 19 points.
Hawkins scored 18 on 5-for-13 shooting in 35 minutes.
Trailing 67-50 with 9:55 left to play, the Aggies went small with Young and Fred Peete in the backcourt with Hawkins, McKines and Herb Pope in the frontcourt. The lineup forced turnovers on three straight Nevada possessions and allowed NMSU to switch on every screen. NMSU closed to within 70-60 on a Young layup from a nifty Chris Cole pass, but it was as close as NMSU would get.
"To come out in conference and get smacked in the face at home is disappointing," Young said.
Nevada leads the WAC in blocked shots per game with 6.53. Nevada had six blocked shots in the first half, led by JaVale McGee, who had four. McGee leads the WAC with 3.12 blocks per game.
Pope's first career start got off to a 1-for-6 start from the field as the freshman forward continues to work his way in. Pope finished with 12 points, but he wasn't the only Aggie who struggled.
NMSU was 4-for-17 at one point in the first half and shot just 34.4 percent in the opening 20 minutes. The Aggies finished at 44.3 percent for the game.
"Nevada played like they were on a mission and we played like we are looking ahead," Menzies said. "I have to look at the tape to see if that is what happened or did they just shoot the ball that well. We didn't challenge shots like they were instructed."
The Wolf Pack rebounded to shoot 50 percent in the first half after a 5-for-14 start from the floor. Nevada outscored NMSU 24-12, including a 19-5 run in the last 7:41 of the first half for a 36-25 halftime lead. Fields scored seven of his 12 first half points during the stretch, including a driving layup through the Aggies' zone on the last possession of the first half.
NMSU fell down as far as 31-28 on a Kemp triple with 2:42 until the half, but McKines helped close the gap by doing what he does best — rebounding. McKines followed a Hawkins miss to close to 31-24, but Fields scored five quick points before the half.
"We beat a good team," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "We handled their pressure pretty well except at the end of the game. Every league game is big, everyone is tough. We have a young team and tonight we had some young moments, but I thought we did good things. Tonight we played much better as a team. Now we have to find consistency."
Utah State improved to 5-0 in WAC play with a 71-61 victory over Louisiana Tech on Thursday. The UtAgs visit the Pan Am on Saturday in a nationally televised game, seeking a season sweep over NMSU and a strangle hold on the conference.
Menzies admitted his team was not ready to play on Thursday.
"We need to figure it out and whatever it was, we can't do the same thing on Saturday," Hawkins said.
Jason Groves can be reached at jgroves@lcsun-news.com
