Box Score EL PASO, TEXAS – Winning on the road can be tough. It becomes even tougher when you commit 13 turnovers in the first half of a rivalry game.
 
NM State's (1-1, 0-0 WAC) 20 turnovers on the night proved to be costly as they dropped their road opener to UTEP (1-1, 0-0 C-USA), 67-64, on Saturday night inside the Don Haskins Center.
 
"I'm just disappointed in our effort tonight," commented Head Coach Greg Heiar following the loss. "I thought they outplayed us. Going into the game, we talked about how we had to take care of the ball and we had to rebound the basketball and we were just way too loose with the basketball."
 
The Aggies were led in scoring by LSU transfer Xavier Pinson who finished the night with 20 points on 8-of-18 from the field. Meanwhile, after recording a triple-double in the opener, Deshawndre Washington posted a double-double on Saturday night – finishing with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Despite UTEP finishing with three more points on the scoreboard, the two sides shot identical percentages from the field as both the Aggies and Miners concluded the night with 25 made shots on 56 attempts to finish 44.6 percent from the field.
 
The Miner's bench production proved to be a difference maker as they received 24 points from their reserves while the Aggie bench turned in just 10 points.
 
FIRST HALF

• The first Aggie field goal came after a knifing Pinson lobbed a pass to an open Issa Muhammad who finished the alley-oop – putting the Aggies ahead 3-2 with 18:28 remaining. The Aggies would maintain their only lead of the game for just 33 seconds.
• About one minute later, UTEP would score seven straight to take an early six-point advantage before Dajuan Gordon found a trailing Pinson for a three-pointer to quickly cut the deficit to three.
• Pinson continued to impact the game during the opening goings as he would knock down a pull-up jumper with 10:54 to bring the Aggies back to within one point. Pinson would eventually score 10 of the Aggies' first 19 points in the rivalry tilt.
• The Miners would work the lead back to seven points prior to Washington scoring back-to-back points for Heiar's squad to help the Crimson & White stay within one possession (28-25) with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half.
• The Aggies got a lift from a three-point basket from Marchelus Avery with just 36 seconds to play as NM State appeared it would go into halftime on a positive note. However, UTEP had other plans as Derick Hamilton and Tae Hardy each scored in the final 12 seconds of the half to push the Miner lead to eight at the break.
• Pinson would finish the half leading all scorers with 11 while the Miners' Hardy paced his team with 10 points. As a team, NM State would finish the half with 13 turnovers while allowing UTEP to score 12 points off of turnovers.

 
SECOND HALF

• Hardy picked up where he left off to begin the second half as he knocked down a three-pointer on UTEP's opening possession out of half time, putting the Aggies behind by double digits for the first time in the game.
• Once again, Deshawndre Washington would be the answer for the Aggies as he scored the next two baskets to help cut the lead back to seven points.
• The ensuing stretch of play was a struggle for the Aggie offense as it was held scoreless for nearly three minutes. Fortunately, the Aggie defense was able to limit UTEP to just three points to remain down 10 points with 16 minutes to play.
• A highlight-worthy steal and pass from Xavier Pinson to a high-flying Marchelus Avery would pull the Aggie back to within six points before UTEP scored the next six to go ahead by 12 points.
• The deficit would not be reduced to single digits until the 8:14 mark when Pinson capped off a four-point run of his own that left the Aggies down 58-49. However, former Aggie Mario McKinney Jr., would have his missed shot followed with a putback dunk from Ze'rik Onyema on the very next Miner possession – thus keeping the momentum on the side of the Miners.
• Later, the Aggies were able to string together a couple of stops before Washington drained a floater from the middle of the paint to put the Aggies within seven points with 3:26 to go.
• After having such a large influence on the game, Washington would foul out with three minutes remaining in the game – leaving the Aggies without one of its most important pieces down the stretch.
• Despite a pair of last-second three-pointers from Pinson and Muhammad, the Aggies would ultimately fall, 67-64 in their first road game of the season.

 
UP NEXT
On the heels of its meeting with the Miners, the Aggies will have a week off before traveling to Albuquerque, N.M., to face off with the only program that they have played more than UTEP.
 
NM State will collide with New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 19, with tip set for 5 p.m. Following a pair of wins to start its season, UNM will square off with SMU in Dallas on Tuesday before hosting the Aggies.