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Colorado State never led in the contest and dropped an 89-76 decision at New Mexico State, Nov. 22. With the loss, the Rams fall to 2-3 on the year, while the Aggies improved to 3-1.
The two teams traded opening baskets before the Aggies went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-2 lead less than four minutes into the game. CSU came back and tied the game at 15 and 17 but surge by NM State pushed it to 33-21 with 6:13 remaining in the half. The Rams had another run, this time 9-0, to trim the lead to one possession at 33-30. However, the Rams could get no closer in the first 20 minutes and the hosts led 43-36 at the break.
The Rams hung in early on in the second half with the lead varying between five and 10. However with NMSU leading 57-48, the hosts went on a 9-0 run over a 1:53 section of the game to take a 66-48 lead with 12 minutes to go, a lead that would grow to as many as 19 and get no smaller than 13 the remainder of the way.
NM State was solid offensively, finishing at 58.6 percent (34-of-58), including an impressive 64.3 percent (18-of-28) in the second half and 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from the arc for the game. CSU finished at 43.3 percent (26-of-60) from the field and hit just 8-of-25 of its three-point attempts. The Aggies won the battle of the boards, 36-29, and outscored CSU 40-28 in the pain
After playing just three minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, senior Che Bob improved in the second half, finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds in just 17 minutes of play. Junior Prentiss Nixon finished with 15 points while junior Deion James tallied 10. NM State was led by Zach Lofton’s 30 points, while Eli Chuha contributed 24 off the bench.
Colorado State will be back in Moby Arena next, hosting Northwestern State on Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. MT.
