STEPHENVILLE, Texas - Short-handed from the jump, the NM State men's basketball team got off to a slow start and never fully recovered in a 64-55 WAC setback to Tarleton State Saturday night inside Wisdom Gym.
NM State's loss snapped the team's two-game WAC winning streak and was also the Aggies' first defeat at the hands of the Texans in the history of the program.
FIRST HALF
• A difficult start on offense put the Aggies at an early disadvantage in their mission to claim a two-game sweep over a WAC foe for the first time in 2020-21. Four Texans generated points through the home team's 16-4 run through the first 9:30 of action with Shakur Daniel and Montre Gipson chipping in five points apiece during that surge.
• The Aggies' only field goal make through that span was a layup courtesy of Will McNair, but over the last 11 minutes of the frame NM State made a move to get back into the thick of the game.
• Tarleton maintained a double-digit lead, 27-16, with 5:32 remaining in the frame before Roberts ripped off a personal scoring run to push his team back within contention. The junior went on a personal 7-0 run starting with two free throw makes and ending with an acrobatic driving layup to cut the Texans' edge down to 27-23 with 3:39 showing on the clock.
• Unfortunately, the Texans regained their footing on offense shortly after that. During the final 3:19, Tarleton outscored the Aggies 9-2 with Konstantin Dotsenko pumping in seven of those points.
• Shooting numbers favored the home team through the opening frame with the Texans putting up splits of .500/.364/1.000 over the first 20 minutes. NM State, meanwhile, connected on just 36-percent (9-of-25) of its field goals including only two of its 12 (16.7-percent) tries from long distance. Seven Aggie turnovers, which the Texans turned into six points, didn't help the visitors' cause, either.
SECOND HALF
• The Aggies began the process of chipping away at the Texans' lead right from the second-half inbounds pass. Jabari Rice made it a single-digit game for the first time since late in the first half when he connected on a step-back three-pointer with 13:13 left.
• Trailing 45-38 at that point, NM State crept closer. On two occasions through the half the Aggies got within six points. The second time came after Kalen Williams cashed in on a three-pointer with 8:20 remaining. From there, however, the Texans netted the next five points to go back up by 11 with 6:28 on the clock.
• NM State never got back within nine points the rest of the way.
• The Aggies shot .296/.333/.875 in the second half compared to the Texans' marks of .500/.250.714. NM State ended the game with 14 turnovers which the Texans turned into 11 points.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Gipson amassed a game-high 19 points for the Texans who improved to 1-2 all-time against NM State. Dotsenko added 17 on 6-of-11 shooting.
• Robert recorded a team-high 12 points for the Aggies and was one of just two members of the team who finished with double digits in the scoring column. McCants neared a double-double, concluding with 11 points and eight rebounds.
• Evan GIlyard II and Wilfried Likayi did not suit up for the Aggies due to them both being in concussion protocol.
COMING UP NEXT
• For the fifth time in as many games, the Aggies will compete in the Lone Star State. Tuesday morning at 11:00 a.m. NM State and UTRGV are scheduled to hook up for a WAC showdown inside the Don Haskins Center. Originally NM State and UTRGV had their WAC series scheduled for Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23, but NM State went on a COVID-19 pause during that time, necessitating a postponement of that set. FOX Sports Arizona, Comcast New Mexico and The 'CW' El Paso/Las Cruces will televise the game.
++NM State++
