PHOENIX – Although the game was tied 37-37 at halftime, New Mexico State felt like it was down by 10 to Grand Canyon with the way the first half ended.
The Aggies got off to a great start, going up by 13 in the first half and took the crowd and students out of the game by playing well on both sides of the ball. However, NMSU let that lead get away, which was the reason why it felt like it was down by 10.
But NMSU coach Chris Jans said they tried to use that to their advantage, playing like they were down 10 the rest of the way. The Aggies found another way to win on the road, grinding out a key 70-59 Western Athletic Conference win Thursday at GCU Arena.
Like the win at New Mexico, the Aggies (14-3, 2-0 WAC) played tremendous defense down the stretch, holding the Lopes to just three field goals in the final 12:44 of the game after GCU took a 50-47 lead. However, that third field goal was with nine seconds left in the game and with the game well in hand.
“We just talked about what was important for our program and how we were going to win the game,” Jans said. “They found a way to grind it out.”
NMSU outscored the Lopes 23-9 in the final 12:44 of the game.
“We have been through a lot of tough games where it gets closer and closer at the end,” Aggie redshirt freshman Johnny McCants said. “Having a environment like this where the crowd is so loud, we came together as a team and tried to push through it.”
It looked like NMSU was going to run away with the game in the first half. The Aggies took a 27-14 lead with 8:36 left in the first half.
But after that, the Lopes outscored NMSU 23-10 to send the game tied at halftime. Grand Canyon shot 8 of 12 in the final 8:03 of the first half while the Aggies shot 5 of 12 during that span after starting the game shooting 11 of 16 in the first 13 minutes of the game. Add to that, the Aggies had a number of players in foul trouble in the opening half.
The Lopes’ run got the crowd back into the game and the Aggies had 12 first-half turnovers that helped bring GCU back into the game. However, NMSU only had three turnovers the final 15 minutes of the game.
Overall, Jans thought his team handled the tough environment well.
“Other than the stretch in the first half, they got distracted by officials making calls that they did not agree and they let it affect the next play, which as very frustrating," Jans said. "Certainly, the environment here is awesome. It’s a very charged environment for college basketball. In my opinion, I don’t think it had a big effect on our play. It was more self-inflected more than anything else.
“We couldn’t have got off to a better start. The game was exactly where we wanted it to be. We could not have asked for anything better then the way we were playing (to start the game).”
NMSU graduate guard Zach Lofton had another strong game. In front of three NBA scouts, Lofton scored 29 points on 8 of 15 shooting, 3 of 6 from three and 10 of 10 from the free throw line with five rebounds. At one point in the first half, Lofton scored 10 straight points.
AJ Harris finished with 11 points on 5 of 11 shooting with six rebounds, Jemerrio Jones had six points and 15 rebounds and Eli Chuha added nine points on 4 of 5 shooting. However, Jones missed much of the second half because of cramps. With Jones not in the game, McCants, as he has a lot this season, played very well down the stretch.
NMSU, who dominated the glass 50-25, held GCU to just 25.7 percent from the floor (9 of 35) in the second half and 34 percent (22 of 64) for the game.
“We just went back to what we did best,” McCants said about the second half. “We can’t lose our composer. We talked as a team to stay united as one.”
Mark Rudi can be reached at 575-541-5455, mrudi@lcsun-news.com or on Twitter @mrudi19.