NMSU takes first Battle of I-10 matchup of the season

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The UTEP women won the last game on NMSU's 25-year old court Nov. 16. The UTEP men christened the new one by falling to NMSU 89-73 Nov. 12 at the Pan American Center.

"Anytime you can beat UTEP, it feels quite better than beating any other school quite honestly," Aggie head coach Marvin Menzies said.

Ultimately, the Miners could not rally back against an NMSU deficit that was as large as 22 in the second half. They showed fight in them late in the second half when they cut the lead to 10 with 4:10 left. After that, the Aggies kept the pressure on the Miners by never letting them cut the lead down to single digits and by pulling away by as much as 16.

"We have to learn to play both halves and finish both halves. We need to keep our composure," UTEP's sophomore center John Bohannon said. "I think we did pretty well when we made a little run in the second half."

The Aggies were riled for the second half having two crucial runs that sealed the game for them. Starting the second half on a 7-0 run had the Miners down 38-49 and later on, the Aggies went on a 6-0 run.

"That was our best halftime that we have had all year. We just kind of had to step back and keep things in perspective," Menzies said.

The runs were due to turnovers on the Miners' part. UTEP only had 15 points off turnovers compared to NMSU's 24. The Aggies capitalized on second chance points finishing the game with 22. Senior forward Wendell McKines led the way with six offensive rebounds and the team finished with 20 offensive boards compared to UTEP's 10.

"Tremendous on the offensive glass, we knew that was their strength. Their second, third and multiple efforts on the glass were a big difference in the game," Miner head coach Tim Floyd said. "Wendell McKines is a terrific player. We knew he was one of the better offensive rebounders in the country at his position."

NMSU complied 27 total points from the 3-point line. Sophomore guard Christian Kabongo led the way from the arc with nine points.

"We did not guard the 3-point line, that was a big difference in the game," Floyd said.

There were multiple factors that led to the Miners loss. One of those happened to be that they found themselves in foul trouble. Junior forward Malcolm Moore and Bohannon fouled out in the second half. The Aggies found themselves at the free-throw line 39 times in the game.

"I think we can certainly get better by not putting a team at the line and letting them shoot 39 free-throws," Floyd said. "A big part of who we have been throughout my career is making more free-throws than the other team attempts."

Kabongo got on to a great start from the beginning when he scored the first eight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers that forced Floyd to call a timeout at 37 seconds into the game.

At the end of the half, the Miners found themselves trailing NMSU 38-42.

"I think our young guys played pretty well, we just need to play both halves of basketball," Bohannon said. "I feel like we came in here against a big group of physical guys and our young group of guys were not intimidated whatsoever. That is a good thing going forward."

Coming into this game, the Aggies were 2-0, coming off their first victory at New Mexico since 2002. This win was the first time they had beat UTEP since 2009.

"That is a really good Aggie team. Their speed, quickness and athleticism were just superior. Really it just reminded me of a Memphis team that we played a year ago," Floyd said. "I think this game will help us in the long run. Our guys are going to grow we will learn from this and get better."

UTEP has a week off until they play Stephen F. Austin at 7 p.m. Nov. 26 at the Don Haskins Center. Their rematch against NMSU will take place at 3 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Don Haskins Center.

Frankie Rodriguez may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.