EL PASO, Texas – The NM State (7-5, 0-0 WAC) offense finally came to life when it needed it as the Aggies shot 50% from the field to finish off the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational with an 85-76 win over North Carolina A&T (5-7, 0-0 CAA) on Thursday night.
 
A pair of Aggies finished the night with exactly 20 points as both Marchelus Avery and Xavier Pinson scored 20 points in their starting role to lead the way in the scoring column for NM State. Avery also hauled in 10 rebounds to record his first career double-double. On the night, a total of five Aggies finished in double-figures. Joining Avery and Pinson were Doctor Bradley (15), Kyle Feit (13) and Issa Muhammad (12).
 
Notably, leading scorer Deshawndre Washington was not one of the five Aggies to finish with at least 10 points, however, the Chicago guard impacted the game in other ways as he led the team with six assists, pulled in nine rebounds and led the Aggies in minutes – playing 35:57 of the 40 possible minutes.
 
As a team, NM State dominated the paint against A&T – scoring 44 points in the paint to finish plus-30 in that category. Meanwhile, the Aggies also limited their turnovers to just seven total, including only two in the first half.
 
The Aggie defense shined in the matchup as they held North Carolina A&T shooters to a combined 37.5% from the field.
 
FIRST HALF

• After shooting just over 40% on Wednesday night, NM State came out on fire on Thursday – jumping out to a 7-0 lead just one minute and 24 seconds into the game.
• NM State refused to let up off the gas as they eventually built a 20-point lead following a 14-0 run led by seven points from Xavier Pinson who finished the half with a higher point total than he had in the previous six outings.
• North Carolina A&T would finally punch back with a 10-0 run of its own before Pinson could end the scoring spurt with a runner from the left side of the court.
• The game of runs would continue as Kyle Feit led the Aggies on a seven-point run just before the end of the half to push the lead back to 13 points.
• Former teammate of Deshawndre Washington and Issa Muhammad and N.C. A&T leading scorer Kam Woods would have a response for the opposing Aggies as he knocked down a three-pointer with two seconds left on the clock to put the gap at 10 points.
• Following a night in which they posted their lowest scoring total of the season, the NM State offense bounced back to score 46 first-half points while shooting 52.8% from the field.

 
SECOND HALF

• Former Aggie Marcus Watson knocked down a three on North Carolina A&T's first possession of the second half, but the next eight points would end up on NM State's side of the scoreboard – including a transition alley-oop dunk for Avery off an assist from Doctor Bradley. This would put the Aggies out front by 13 points with 17:12 remaining.
• The next five minutes would belong to the Aggies of N.C. A&T as they climbed all the way back to even the score at 56 points with 12:19 to play to mark the first tie since the score was 0-0.
• Although, NM State would never relinquish the lead as it figured out a way to rattle off 11 unanswered points led by four points from Doctor Bradley.
• Just as it looked like the Aggies had found a way to create the distance it needed; A&T scored the next nine to pull within one possession (67-65) with 8:12 to play.
• With the lead back to five points, Avery found his way into the paint and dumped a pass off to Muhammad who finished with a powerful right-handed dunk over a defender to put the score at 72-65 in favor of NM State.
• Later, Avery would convert an and-one to put the Crimson & White ahead by nine points with just under three minutes left in the game.
• Eventually, Avery would extend the lead to 12 points when he connected on his second three-pointer of the night after Washington found him standing alone on the left wing with 1:41 on the clock. This would be the dagger as NM State would go on to win by nine points.

 
NUMBERS OF NOTE

• Marchelus Avery recorded his first career double-double as he posted 20 points and 10 rebounds in his third consecutive start. Thursday also marked Avery's third double-digit scoring effort in the last three contests.
• Issa Muhammad finished with double digits in back-to-back games for the first time in his career as an Aggie as he turned in 12 points on the night.
• Xavier Pinson recorded his third 20-point game of the season and first since scoring 25 points in Las Vegas against San Diego on Nov. 25.
• Kyle Feit finished the night 3-7 from downtown to notch his fifth game of the season with at least three made threes while tallying double digits for the third time this year.
• With no DaJuan Quaye Gordon, Doctor Bradley earned his fourth start of the season and made the most of it by equaling his season-best scoring mark with 15 points.
• Thursday marked the first time that a pair of Aggies had 20-point performances since March 11, 2022, when Teddy Allen and Jabari Rice finished with 25 and 21, respectively.