PITTSBURGH – Playing good defense makes traveling a little easier and so does winning. The Aggies (5-3, 0-0 WAC) did both on Sunday afternoon at Duquesne (7-3, 0-0 A-10) – defeating the Dukes 73-60.
 
"I thought last game we played some really good defense and it traveled here to Pittsburgh and this was definitely the best attention to detail and defense that we played for 40 minutes," Heiar told Jack Nixon following the win. "We definitely had a workman-like attitude."
 
Once again, NM State was led by its Chicago backcourt consisting of Deshawndre Washington, Xavier Pinson and DaJuan Quaye Gordon as the trio represented three of the Aggies' five double-digit scorers. Gordon finished the day with his first double-double in an Aggie uniform (10 points, 11 rebounds), Washington tallied 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Pinson finished the night with 11 points and six assists.
 
Despite playing just 19 minutes, Issa Muhammad led all scorers with 17 points as he knocked down all seven of his field goal attempts in addition to corralling six boards.
 
Defensively, the Aggies held the Dukes to just 32.7 percent from the field. Gordon anchored the Aggie defense as he was tasked with guarding the Dukes' leading scorer for much of the night – holding Dae Dae Grant to 2-14 (14.3%) from the floor.
 
Grant did still manage to finish the night with 12 points as he went 8-9 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Tre Clark III, the former teammate of Muhammad and Washington, led the Duquesne scoring charge with 16 points.
 
FIRST HALF

• Following a Duquesne bucket, Issa Muhammad quickly responded with an offensive putback to start the Aggie scoring.
• Deshawndre Washington's impact was felt early as he scored back-to-back buckets before finding Kyle Feit in the right corner for a three-pointer that gave the Aggies a one-point lead with 13 minutes and 31 seconds to play in the first half.
• Head Coach Greg Heiar consistently preaches crashing the offensive glass and Marchelus Avery was doing just that in the first half. The sophomore from Richmond, Va., did the most with his early minutes as he snagged two offensive rebounds in the first 14 minutes of the game and turned both boards into points for NM State. Avery led an offensive rebounding charge that saw seven of the first 17 Aggie boards come on the attacking end of the court.
• With just under five minutes to play in the half, NM State cradled a one-point advantage before NM State finished the period on an 11-4 run to take an eight-point lead (35-27) into the locker room. Washington and Gordon did all the scoring for the Aggies during the stretch as Washington posted six points and Gordon chipped in the other five.
• The Aggies' perimeter defense stepped up once against, holding the Dukes to 1-11 from beyond the arc in the first half.

 
SECOND HALF

• A second-chance three-pointer on the Dukes first possession of the second half reduced the Aggie lead to just five before Xavier Pinson led an eight-point Aggie run to hike the lead up to 13 points (43-30) with 16:27 to play.
• After being held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes, Pinson scored seven of the first 11 Aggie points to get himself going early in the second half.
• Later, an incredible high-flying offensive putback from Gordon impressed the Pittsburgh crowd and gave the Chicago native an opportunity at an and-one. Gordon would convert the free throw to put the Aggies ahead by 16 points with 13:11 remaining on the clock.
• Duquesne would not cut the lead back to single digits until the 4:16 mark when a Tre Clark III free throw left the gap at nine points.
• Two possessions later, Issa Muhammad would increase the lead back to double-digits where it would stay for the rest of the night as the Aggies went on to win by 13 points.

 
NUMBERS OF NOTE

• Issa Muhammad became the second Aggie this season to record a perfect field goal percentage while attempting five or more shots as he matched Doctor Bradley's 7-for-7 effort against San Diego in Las Vegas.
• Kyle Feit finished the night 3-6 from three-point range to mark the third-straight game with at least three made threes for last season's NJCAA three-point leader.
• DaJuan Quaye Gordon accounted for 10 or more points for the second consecutive game. The guard also had five-plus rebounds for the third-straight game.
• Deshawndre Washington finished just one assist shy of posting his sixth outing of 10-plus points, five-plus rebounds and five-plus assists.
• NM State held Duquesne to just 18 made field goals – a mark they held only Division II Simon Fraser underneath this season.
• Pinson's six made free throws matched a season-best for any Aggie this year.
• DaJuan Gordon came up with a season-high three steals for the third time this season.