LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The energy and intensity was there, but the University of Idaho men's basketball team couldn't protect the ball in a 73-65 loss at New Mexico State on Saturday at the Pan American Center.
Idaho lost its third in a row and slipped to 12-9 overall and 5-4 in the Western Athletic Conference after turning the ball over a season-high 24 times, which led to 25 points for New Mexico State (12-11, 6-3 WAC).
"Tonight, we were ready to go, and we played extremely hard," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "We did a lot of really, really good things, we just didn't play smart. We got a little sloppy with the ball a few times and had a few defensive lapses."
Idaho opened the game strongly and raced out to a 19-12 early lead, but as turnovers added up and the Aggies started to find their shooting groove, the Vandals saw their lead slip away, then gave up a decisive 8-1 run that gave NMSU a 64-57 lead with 2:03 left in the game.
"We really competed tonight. I feel bad for those guys in the locker room. We're just young and inexperienced," Verlin said. "I told them in the locker room that we just have to learn from this trip."
NMSU made 10 of its final 11 free throw attempts to hold off Idaho's late comeback attempt and stretch its lead to the eight-point final margin.
Both teams shot 49 percent from the field and both made six 3-pointers, but the real advantage came at the free throw line, where the Aggies went 19-of-27, while Idaho was just 9-of-11. Rebounds were also identical at 29 each. NMSU turned the ball over 19 times, but Idaho turned those opportunities into just 13 points.
"Basically, they win this game at the free throw line, scoring 10 more points than us and that's the difference in the game," Verlin said.
Idaho outscored the taller New Mexico State lineup 34-26 in the paint and 6-3 in second-chance points, but the Aggie bench accounted for 28 points, compared to 12 from the Vandal reserves.
Most of that NMSU bench scoring effort came from Gordo Castillo, who hit seven of his 10 attempts, including five 3-pointers, to lead all scorers with 19 points. Idaho held the WAC's top scorer in conference play, Troy Gillenwater, to just 16 points, eight of which came on free throws in the final two minutes.
For Idaho, senior guard Jeff Ledbetter led the team with 17 points and five made 3-pointers, while junior guard Deremy Geiger added 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Sophomore center Kyle Barone had 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks on 6-of-8 shooting before fouling out at the 2:03 mark.
Idaho held a 44-42 lead at the 11:38 mark, but the Aggies went on a 12-3 run to go up by seven at 54-47 with 7:56 to go. Idaho responded with a 7-0 run to tie it up 54-54 with 6:23 to go, then again at 56-56 with 5:02 left, but the Vandals made just two of their final five shots and turned it over three times in the final five minutes of the game.
The Vandals will try to end their three-game skid at home next week, when they play host to San Jose State (10-10, 2-7 WAC) on Thursday at 7:05 p.m., then Hawai'i (12-8, 3-5 WAC) on Saturday at 7:05 p.m., at the Cowan Spectrum.
"I'm proud of my guys. They came out and battled as hard as they possibly could battle," Verlin said. "We're right in the middle of this thing, and I don't know if any of us - New Mexico State, Boise State, ourselves and Nevada - are going to be able to catch Utah State, but second place is still up for grabs.
"What we've got to do is get back home, get rested after this long trip, and get ourselves mentally focused. We've got a good San Jose State team and a good Hawai'i team coming next week."
