PHOENIX – In what was its final trip to GCU Arena as a WAC member, NM State (9-15, 2-10 WAC) fell 78-67 to Grand Canyon (16-8, 7-4 WAC) on Wednesday night.
 
"We were atrocious on the offensive end in the first half which led to a lot of our defensive mistakes and they were able to get into a rhythm," noted Head Coach Greg Heiar. "I thought we did a much better job in the second half, but they hit some big shots and you have to give them credit."
 
NM State was led by Xavier Pinson who finished the night with a game-high 22 points while Doctor Bradley, DaJuan Quaye Gordon and Deshawndre Washington each finished with 11 points apiece to account for the Aggies' other three scorers in double figures. Washington also snared 10 rebounds to record his second double-double in the last four games.
 
Meanwhile, Grand Canyon's Ray Harrison led them in scoring as he finished with 18 points. Noah Baumann, Gabe McGlothan and Chance McMillian also turned in 10-plus points on the night as Baumann posted 15, McGlothan tallied 14 and McMillian scored 12.
 
As a team, NM State only finished with one fewer rebound than Grand Canyon while also dominating the paint scoring 36-18 and turning the ball over one fewer time than the Lopes. However, free-throw shooting and shooting from beyond the arc were two of the biggest factors in the Lopes' win as GCU shot 89.5% from the free-throw line and made five more threes than the Aggies.
 
FIRST HALF

• The first two possessions of the game went exactly how NM State wanted it to as they earned a stop and a score from Deshawndre Washington who would go on to score the first four points for the visitors.
• However, from there, the first half belonged almost entirely to Grand Canyon. The first GCU burst was fueled by Gabe McGlothan who put in nine of his team's first 11 points while helping the Lopes work out to an 11-4 advantage with 15:37 remaining on the clock.
• About four minutes later, Washington dove on the floor to earn an extra possession for the Aggies before finding a wide-open Xavier Pinson on the wing just in front of the GCU bench. Pinson proceeded to knock down his first three-pointer of the game.
• Pinson's second triple can on the Aggies' very next possession and assisted in cutting the lead to one possession (16-13) with 11:14 to go in the first period.
• Following back-and-forth scoring from the two sides across the next three minutes, Grand Canyon took advantage of a three-minute stretch in which the Aggies went 0-4 from the field and turned the ball over twice as the Lopes managed an 11-0 scoring run, working the lead to 15 points before Issa Muhammad ended the drought with a made free throw at the 3:58 mark.
• In total, the Aggies shot just 28.1% in the first 20 minutes while GCU converted on 51.9% of its shot attempts while going a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe to take a 16-point lead into the intermission after going up by as much as 18 points.

 
SECOND HALF

• The scoreboard still showed the Aggies down by 14 points upon the first three minutes ticking off the clock, however, a James Beck three-pointer ignited a flame in the Aggie camp as Heiar's squad rattled off 12 unanswered points to reduce the deficit to just two points with 14:25 left to play.
• Grand Canyon immediately turned to its leading score as Ray Harrison scored four of his 18 points on the next two GCU possessions to stymie the Aggie momentum and rebuild the Lopes' lead to six points at the 13:31 mark.
• NM State was able to fight back once against as Xavier Pinson and Doctor Bradley combined to score all of the Aggies' next 11 points across the next 3:23. During this stretch, Grand Canyon scored on only two of its five possessions, however, both made baskets were from long range to allow GCU to maintain a one-point lead.
• Trailing by three points with 9:42 to play, the Aggies came away with zero points on a possession in which it collected two offensive rebounds before ultimately earning a pair of free throws. After making a season-high 22 free throws on Saturday against Seattle U, NM State was once again hindered by its ability to convert on the "free" ones. The Aggies finished the night a combined 15-24 while Grand Canyon made 17-19 with one of its only two misses coming with the outcome having been essentially determined.
• Later, a pair of three-pointers from Grand Canyon's Ray Harrison and Noah Baumann bookended a 7-0 GCU run that pushed its lead back to double digits with 7:24 remaining.
• The gap between the two programs in their first of two meetings this season hovered around 10 points for the remainder of the game before finishing at 11 with zeroes on the clock.

 
NUMBERS OF NOTE

• Xavier Pinson turned in his highest scoring total since he scored 25 against San Diego on Nov. 25 in the Aggies' third game of the season. With his 22 points on Wednesday night, Pinson now sits just two points away from scoring 1,500 points during his collegiate career. Pinson also finished a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line to mark the 10th time this season that he finished the game with at least two attempts and zero misses.
• DaJuan Quaye Gordon put together his third straight double-digit scoring effort while playing nearly 29 minutes after coming off the bench for the fourth game in a row.
• Like Gordon, Doctor Bradley also reached double figures for the third consecutive game. Bradley continues to play his best basketball of the season as he is now a combined 14-17 (.824) in the last three contests.
• Deshawndre Washington compiled his fifth double-double of the season after posting 11 points and 10 rebounds against the Lopes. Washington also dished out five assists to submit his 10^th five-plus assist game of the year.
• The Aggies' four three-point makes ties the fewest total makes of the season while their shooting percentage from beyond the arc (19%) is the lowest this year.

UP NEXT
NM State continues its road trip as they travel to Riverside, Calif., for a meeting with California Baptist on Saturday night. After its loss at Utah Valley on Wednesday night, the Lancers are now riding a four-game losing streak. Saturday's tilt is scheduled to tip at 8 p.m. MT and can be streamed on ESPN+.