MOSCOW, Idaho ? The University of Idaho men's basketball team had a chance to upset preseason Western Athletic Conference favorite New Mexico State, but the Vandals couldn't convert a game-tying 3-pointer with 48 seconds and the Aggies hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute for a 78-68 New Mexico State victory.
Idaho (3-9, 0-1) kept things interesting with 10 lead changes and eight ties, but 20 turnovers led to 20 points for New Mexico State (7-9, 1-0) and the Vandals were outscored at the free throw line by 10.
“Our guts hurt,” Idaho coach George Pfeifer said. “They were picked to finish number one in the preseason and we were picked last and we felt we had every opportunity to win this game tonight.”
Mike Hall led the Vandals in scoring for the second consecutive game as he finished with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the 3-point line. Michael Crowell added 11 points and seven rebounds and Clyde Johnson found a groove inside and scored 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
As a team, Idaho hit 23-of-55 (.418) shoots and 8-of-26 (.308) 3-point attempts. The team cooled off in the second half after hitting 50-percent of its attempts from the floor and beyond the arc in the first half.
The Vandals improved their free throw shooting with a 14-of-18 (.778) performance, but New Mexico State attempted 36 free throws and made 24. Idaho held a 40-30 rebounding advantage against a team that entered the game with a +7.2 rebounding margin.
New Mexico State began the game with a trap that gave Idaho fits and led to a 15-6 Aggie advantage at the 15:02 mark. Idaho turned the ball over five times during that stretch. The Vandals settled and fought back to tie the game at 19-19 with 11 minutes remaining and took their first lead on a Terrence Simmons 3-pointer that made the score 28-27 with 6:12 remaining. The score remained close for the remainder of the half and Idaho held a 41-40 advantage with 1:19 remaining before Darin Nagle was whistled for a personal and technical foul that allowed the Aggies to move ahead 42-41. Another New Mexico State basket made the halftime score 44-41.
Idaho pulled to within 51-49 as the second half got underway, but New Mexico State moved ahead 58-50 with 13:41 remaining. The Vandals fought back to tie the contest at 61-61 at the 9:24 mark, but the Aggies moved back ahead on their next possession and never relinquished the lead. Trailing 71-65 with less than two minutes remaining, Crowell hit a 3-pointer at the 1:38 mark to pull Idaho within three. A steal by Johnson gave Idaho an attempt to tie the game, but a good look from Hall was just long. New Mexico State put the game away with its free throws in the final minute.
“With all the goofy stuff that we did throughout the game, we had a great opportunity with a wide open shot to tie the game. The ball rattled in and rattled out. We hit that one and all of a sudden it's a different game,” Pfeifer said.
New Mexico State received all but eight points from its five starters and was led by Justin Hawkins with 18 points and eight rebounds. The Aggies committed just eight turnovers.
Idaho continues WAC play Saturday as hosts to Boise State at the Cowan Spectrum. The game will be broadcast live by Altitude Sports & Entertainment and KTVB Channel 7 at Boise. Game time is 3:05 p.m.
