ST. GEORGE, Utah - Upon entering Burns Arena Saturday night, it was very apparent that Dixie State was holding its senior night.
So, naturally, NM State seniors Johnny McCants and Donnie Tillman decided to crash the party in order to celebrate as well.
Tillman handled the scoring, pouring in a season and game-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while McCants handed the rest, finishing with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, five steals and three blocked shots to help NM State take down Dixie State 68-56 in the regular season finale for both squads Saturday night.
FIRST HALF
• Tillman's terrorizing of the Trailblazers started early on as the forward out of Detroit dropped in eight of his 17 first-half points during NM State's 12-2 run over the first 3:59. He drained two of his three first-half long balls during that stretch and capped off the Aggies' surge to start the game with a twisting layup in the lane.
• The visitors' lead remained at 10 points, 16-6, following a jumper courtesy of Clayton Henry at the 12:45 mark, but Dixie State decided to do something about its double-digit deficit shortly thereafter.
• Cameron Gooden drained a downtown try, representing the starting point of a 5-0 scoring spree by the Trailblazers. That hit put a charge into Dixie State's congregation and the fight was on from there. NM State regained its double-digit lead just once more through the remainder of the opening frame and that happened when Tillman threw his final trifecta of the stanza to make matters 30-19 with 7:28 remaining.
• Over the course of the rest of the frame, NM State generated just one more field goal make - a driving one-handed dunk courtesy of Tillman - and the Trailblazers closed within single digits once more. Dason Youngblood pulled his squad within four, 36-32, by banking in a stick-back layup with 2:23 left on the clock.
• NM State countered the Trailblazers' last push by going 6-for-6 from the foul line through the final 4:34 of the frame. It was Gooden, Hunter Schofield and Frank Staine who helped lead the home team back into the thick of things by combining to produce 23 of the Trailblazers' 36 points over the first 20 minutes.
SECOND HALF
• McCants came on strong through the opening minutes of the deciding frame by scoring or assisting on each of the Aggies' first four field goals.
• With 8:43 to go in the game, finished off a 10-0 run by watching C.J. Roberts connect on a three-pointer off of an assist from McCants. That long ball pushed NM State's edge to a seemingly insurmountable 18 points, 59-41, but for the second-straight night Dixie State battled back to make it a game.
• Through the next four minutes, the Trailblazers took off on a 12-3 run which whittled the Aggies' lead down to single digits, 62-53, with 4:55 left. Five Dixie State players scored during that surge with Jarod Greene putting in four of his team's 12 through the run.
• With the ball in his hands and 4:25 left in the game, Tillman deftly gave the rock up to a back-door cutting Roberts who pushed the visitors' edge back to double digits, 64-53, by connecting on a smooth reverse layup.
• Through the last six minutes of the game, Dixie State hit just a single field goal - Andrea Mulibea's three-pointer with 38 seconds left that was far too little and much too late to make and substantial difference in the tilt.
KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Tillman's 22 points represented the highest single-game scoring total by an Aggies in the 2020-21 season. Coming into Saturday night's showdown, Tillman had totaled just three three-pointers all season. By the time the night was done, he had doubled that number with a 3-of-5 showing from downtown.
• McCants either set or matched his career highs in assists (five, tied), blocked shots (three, tied) and steals (five, set) in his astounding all-around performance. His six rebounds were tied for a team-high with McCants.
• Clayton Henry rounded out the Aggies' main trio of scorers by putting in 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
• For the Trailblazers, who wrapped up their first transitional season as an NCAA Division I program, Gooden dropped in a team-high 14 points while Schofield (10) and Staine (10) also racked up double-digit point totals. Schofield grabbed a game-high seven rebounds for Dixie State, too.
• The win allowed NM State to earn its first WAC sweep of the season. Additionally, NM State extended its season-long winning streak to three games with the victory.
• NM State won the battle of the boards by a 37-30 margin and put up shooting splits of .444/.292/.722 in the triumph. The Aggies also forced 17 turnovers and owned a 30-20 edge in paint scoring on the night.
• Dating back to the 2013 season, NM State has now won 15 consecutive regular season games in the month of March.
• Head coach Chris Jans is a perfect 7-0 in regular season games during the month of March as the Aggies' bench boss. Against WAC teams in March, Jans is the owner of a perfect 13-0 record and overall he's 13-2 in the month as NM State's head coach.
COMING UP NEXT
• With the third seed for the 2021 Hercules Tires WAC Tournament in hand, the Aggies set their sights on Las Vegas, Nev., where they'll try to punch another ticket to the NCAA Tournament. NM State begins its WAC Tournament run Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. MT with a showdown against sixth-seeded UTRGV. ESPN+ and the ESPN app will stream the clash.
++NM State++
