EL PASO - In the end, it came down to fundamentals.
Utah Valley's Trey Woodbury drained two free throws to make matters 60-60 with 1:51 to go, but the Aggies answered with a 7-of-8 free throw performance down the stretch and coupled with some well-timed defensive intensity NM State earned a hard-fought 67-60 triumph Saturday night at Eastwood High School.
FIRST HALF
• Outside of a stretch of 1:19 in the opening frame, NM State was in control throughout. Utah Valley scored the game's first bucket but Johnny McCants capped a 5-0 NM State response by drilling the first of his two three-pointers.
• Utah Valley made use of a 7-0 run to turn a 12-6 disadvantage into a 13-12 lead with 11:23 left, but C.J. Roberts put NM State back ahead with a pull-up jumper with 10:34 left.
• Roberts' lone bucket of the game gave NM State a lead it wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the frame.
• Colby Leifson pulled Utah Valley even with a fast-break triple which made matters 16-16 with 8:07 to go before NM State went on one of its only sustained runs of the game.
• Through the course of the next 6:30, the Aggies embarked on a 13-4 scoring spree helmed almost entirely by Jabari Rice and Donnie Tillman. Rice had five points through the surge ended the run with three-pointer which hiked the hosts' edge to 29-20 while Tillman pumped in four points during the Aggies' run, too.
• A 4-1 Wolverine run in the last 42 seconds cut the Aggies' lead to 30-24 at the break.
SECOND HALF
• NM State fell behind just once in the second half, when Jamison Overton connected on a tough jumper with 7:46 to go in order to put his squad on top 50-48, but the Aggies never fully pulled away from Utah Valley.
• A 5-1 Utah Valley run to start the second half cut NM State's lead to one, 30-29, but four straight free throw makes by the Aggies stopped the Wolverines' surge.
• Aside from the final margin, NM State held a seven-point lead in the second half another time as well. Wilfried Likayi followed up three-pointers by Clayton Henry and McCants on back-to-back possessions with a split at the free throw line to put the hosts up 43-36 with 12:07 left.
• With Overton on their side, though, the Wolverines were never truly out of contention. The crafty guard netted 10 points during Utah Valley's ensuing 13-5 run which put the visitors back in the lead.
• Tillman pulled NM State back even with two free throw makes at the 7:19 mark and Evan Gilyard II dialed up a huge three-pointer with 6:44 left to put the hosts ahead 53-50.
• NM State looked to have finally put the Wolverines down for good when another three-pointer by Gilyard II made the score 60-55 Aggies with 2:49 left. Over the next 58 seconds, though, Utah Valley scored five in a tow to tie things at 60-all.
• Where fundamentals came into play the largest was over the last 1:04 of the game. Tillman broke the 60-60 deadlock at the 1:04 mark by swishing the first of seven NM State free throws through the last 64 seconds.
• NM State's defensive delivered over that span, too, forcing a pair of Utah Valley turnovers. The Wolverines also went 0-for-2 from the field to help the Aggies seal the deal.
• Through the last minute and change, NM State went 7-of-8 from the foul line to collect another Saturday night WAC win.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Gilyard hit his fair share of big shots through the second half in order to finish with 16 points. Rice put in a game-best 20 for NM State who won for third consecutive Saturday.
• Intent on holding the Wolverines' offense down, NM State allowed just Overton to amass 10 or more points. Utah Valley's guard netted 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting and while Aimaq did record 15 rebounds he was held to just two points on a 1-of-7 performance from the field.
• Second-half field goal makes were a rarity for the Aggies who went only 7-of-25 from the field through the last 20 minutes. The free throw line, though, helped NM State get the job done as the Aggies went 18-of-21 (85.7-percent) from there in the last stanza.
• Tillman was especially accurate from the stripe, going 8-of-8 from that distance. That helped the senior finish with 10 points and he also added a team-high six rebounds.
• NM State's free throw shooting prowess in the second half helped offset the Wolverines' 46.7-percent (13-of-30) shooting slip through the frame.
COMING UP NEXT
• Only road games remain on the rest of the Aggies' regular season schedule and NM State's next stop is Stephenville, Texas, for a two-game WAC swing at league newcomer Tarleton State. Friday night's first showdown between the Aggies and Texans since the 1960s is set to start at 6:00 p.m. MT from Wisdom Gymnasium.
++NM State++
