Lobos denied sweep by Aggies' overtime buzzer-beater
Dec. 7—ALBUQUERQUE — Not that the Rio Grande Rivalry needed a refresher on how to ramp up the animosity, but Monday night's instant classic between the University of New Mexico men's basketball team and its downstate rival from Las Cruces may have ignited the passion the annual series has been missing over the past several years.
New Mexico State avoided the season sweep with a dramatic, buzzer-beating 78-76 win in overtime, getting a wild, no-look, over-the-shoulder "layup" from Nate Pryor as time expired.
The immediate aftermath was equal parts shock and overflowing emotions on both sides. Several Aggies ran to the middle of The Pit's floor and stomped, danced and even, according to some, spit on the UNM logo at center court.
It touched off a chorus of boos and insults from the fans, prompting NMSU guard Jabari Rice to make an impromptu victory lap around the court while gesturing to the fans.
"It's going to happen," said UNM guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. "I mean, we did it to them when we won [in Las Cruces] so we expect them to do the same when they won. They earned this win, and we got to go back to the drawing board and get better."
The game featured five ties and 15 lead changes, most of them coming in the second half after New Mexico State (7-2) erased a 10-point first-half deficit.
"I think ... everyone will say that were in the building that it was somewhat of a classic," said NMSU coach Chris Jans. "Overtime. Big shots down the stretch. I mean, it was a heck of a ballgame."
It was a physical, emotional game from the opening tip. Multiple players hit the deck hard in the first half as both teams came out determined to control the pace with tough defense. Unlike the teams' first meeting last week in Las Cruces that saw the Lobos (5-4) roll to 101 points, Monday's rematch saw the Aggies take several possessions deep into the shot clock while forcing the Lobos into more of a methodical pace at the other end.
Teddy Allen, NMSU's Big Ten transfer from Nebraska, had a team-high
20 points, but it was the 19 points in just 18 minutes for reserve big man Yuat Alok that changed the nature of the game. A 6-foot-11 senior, Alok was simply unguardable at times.
"We didn't have an answer for him in the post," said Lobos head coach Richard Pitino.
Alok hit 9 of his 13 shot attempts, nearly all of which were within five feet of the basket.
The Lobos got a game-high 26 points from Mashburn and 21 from Jaelen House, but it was Jay Allen-Tovar who provided a spark off the bench. Despite scoring just six points with four rebounds, his energy and physical presence in the low post kept the game tight throughout the second half.
House had a chance to win the game in regulation, but his coast-to-coast drive with three seconds remaining produced a running, off-balance jumper that missed at the buzzer. In OT, it was a back-and-forth battle that had the announced crowd of 13,019 on its feet the entire time.
Mashburn tied the game at 76-all with a jumper with 25 seconds left, setting up one final possession for New Mexico State. Rice drove in from the top of the key as the clock wound down and squeezed a pass into the low post to Pryor. He was immediately sandwiched by Lobos guards Javonte Johnson and Saquan Singleton, but somehow managed to get a shot off over his shoulder with his right hand.
The talk afterward was the Aggies' celebration at mid-court, one that will undoubtedly have Lobos fans buzzing for a while.
"Listen, I'm not going to justify what our kids did," Jans said, adding that he was waiting for a video review of Pryor's last-second shot when the postgame celebration went on. "Just for some context, when we got beat soundly at our place there was some of that, you know, by their players. I'm not going to lie to you; I showed my team that. You know, I'm not going to lie to you — it was motivation. We need to do what we had to do to get the hair on our back to stand up and understand what we were about to face."
Pitino took the high road with most of the postgame emotions, saying his team would learn from the loss and move onto the next game. He said the last shot by Pryor was a defensive miscommunication they'll study in film session later this week.
"I'm more offended by our defense on the last play," he said. "I'm not going to worry about other peoples' team. What I know is we had a couple breakdowns down the stretch that cost us an opportunity to sweep New Mexico State; we didn't do it. So I'm not going to coach their team."
NOTES
The Lobos shot 23 free throws, missing nine. The Aggies attempted only five free throws all night, making just two. ... Allen had a double-double, finishing with a game-high 11 rebounds. He and Mashburn spent a good portion of the game jawing at one another. The two played against each other last season when Allen was at Nebraska and Mashburn was at Minnesota. ... NMSU forward Johnny McCants had 12 points and four assists. He was one of those players who fell hard in the first half. He briefly left the game with an injured right wrist but returned a few minutes later. ... The teams weren't great from the outside. They combined to go 8-for-37 from 2-point territory, including an 0-for-6 effort from UNM's Allen-Tovar. ... Lobos guard Emmanual Kuac was a late scratch after suffering a "lower body injury" in practice this week. ... The Aggies were assessed a technical foul for flopping. Teams are given a warning on the first offense, then a one-shot technical free throw is awarded the opponent on the second offense. ... NMSU's win helped the Aggies avoid getting swept by UNM in the three major team sports of football, women's basketball and men's basketball.
