EL PASO, TEXAS – NM State made the trip down Interstate 10 to take on its long-time rival UTEP at GECU Arena at the Don Haskins Center. Behind strong performances from
Mark Lavrenov and
Jermaine Washington, the Aggies battled back from an eight-point second-half deficit, but came up just short, falling 60-58. This marks the first of two meetings between the Aggies and Miners as they will see each other again in exactly one week in Las Cruces.
Washington hit four 3-pointers on his way to scoring a team-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Lavrenov finished the night with 14 points with 10 coming in the second half.
With eight of the 10 players on the court yet to experience the Battle of I-10, the two teams took some time to find their footing. In the opening seven minutes, the two sides combined to score just eight points, not to mention a technical foul being issued to both teams just 25 seconds into the game.
The Aggies'
Adrame Diongue then came up with a block on the defensive end before collecting an offensive rebound and throwing down an emphatic two-handed dunk on the other side of the court just moments later. This would inject some energy into
Jason Hooten's squad as this sparked a 12-2 run that allowed the Aggies to build an eight-point lead with just over nine minutes left in the half.
UTEP would eventually answer as it went on a 12-3 run of its own to move ahead 18-17 less than five minutes later. The Miners eventually built a three-point advantage late in the half, but
Jermaine Washington drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from about 30 feet from the basket to tie the game at 28 entering the halftime pause.
On the other side of the break, the Miner offense saw a trio of 3-pointers fall to generate a lead of eight points about five and half minutes into the second period.
The deficit would remain eight points for the Aggies until a three from
Omarr Smith followed by seven points for
Mark Lavrenov helped the Aggies trim the lead to just one point with 8:06 left in the contest.
After UTEP built its lead back to six, an offensive rebound led to an uncontested 3-pointer for Washington that quieted the crowd and brought the Aggies back within one possession at the 4:13 mark. Washington would continue to connect from beyond the arc as his fourth triple of the game would draw the Aggies even at 58 with just under three minutes left to play.
After the Miners took a two-point lead, Washington got another deep look at the buzzer with an opportunity to win the game, but this time, it wouldn't drop as the Aggies fell in El Paso.
UP NEXT
The Aggies will now travel to Oceanside, Calif., for a matchup against San Diego State this Sunday as part of the Compete 4 Cause Classic. The bout against the Aztecs will tip-off at 1:30 p.m. MT. This will also serve as the first time that the two programs meet since they collided in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
For complete coverage of NM State men's basketball, visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of the Aggies – and follow the Aggies on Facebook (
NM State Men's Basketball), X (@
NMStateMBB) and Instagram (@
NMStateMBB).
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