by Amos Naismith
February 11, 2006 (c) TrueAggies.com
Exclusive to TrueAggies.com
LOGAN, Utah –The biggest crowd of the year stood and watched as Utah State was
handed their first home loss this season. The New Mexico State Aggies beat USU
83-77 at the Spectrum on Saturday.
Durrall Peterson led the blue Aggies with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Nate Harris
added 18 points and 6 boards to the cause before he fouled out with less than a
minute to play. Jaycee Carroll rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points.
Just as most of the game was close, so were the statistics. The difference for NMSU
came in second chance scoring where they outscored USU 21-10.
The visiting Aggies got out to an early lead which they held for much of the first half. While fighting to close the deficit there was plenty of entertaining basketball to cheer for from the home team.
Five minutes into the game David Pak acrobatically floated toward the hoop before laying off a no-look pass to Harris, setting up the senior for the easy bucket of the glass. On the home Aggie’s next trip down the floor, Harris dribbled off his foot, recovered and still managed to lay in another basket making the score 13-8 in favor of the visiting Aggies.
Utah State continued to keep within a contentious distance of New Mexico State’s lead in the first half. They were able to get their first lead over NMSU, 34-33, on a Pak triple with 2:10 remaining before the break. The lead lasted all of 20 seconds before NMSU answered with a 3-pointer.
Just as the final seconds of the half ticked off the clock, Pak sank another outside the parameter giving Utah State a 39-38 advantage at halftime.
NMSU quickly regained the lead and held it until 13:10 to play when Carroll hit a running short range jumper putting USU up 51-50.
The blue Aggies were able to build on their lead, even getting as much as five points ahead with 8:00 to play. The red Aggies more than made up the difference taking the game with a 14-3 run carrying into the final minute of play.
As Utah State fouled to slow the clock during the closing seconds, New Mexico State made their free throws – extending their lead to six before it was over.
The loss was USU’s second to NMSU this year, giving the red Aggies a perfect sweep on the regular season series.
Utah State travels to Idaho to take on the Vandals for the second time on the year. The Aggies took their first meeting with an easy 83-56 win in the Spectrum in January. On the 18 th USU returns home to participate in a Bracket Buster matchup against Northwestern State of the Southland Conference. That game will be broadcast on ESPNU and will start at 8:05 p.m. because of television. The Lady Aggies will play Hawai’I before that game in the Spectrum starting at 5. Students should make sure they get their seats early or they may be left out.
You can email feedback, or comments and suggestions to Amos at amosnaismith@trueaggies.com
Official Basketball Box Score
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Official Basketball Box Score
New Mexico State vs Utah State
02-11-06 7:00 pm at Logan, Utah (Dee Glen Smith Spectrum)
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VISITORS: New Mexico State 10-12, 6-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Fisher, David....... f 5-12 0-0 3-4 6 6 12 3 13 1 3 1 0 28
14 Knauber, Ted........ f 1-3 1-2 0-0 1 1 2 0 3 1 0 0 0 27
41 Nelson, Tyrone...... c 6-15 0-0 4-6 5 4 9 2 16 4 4 2 1 38
02 Mitchell, Mike...... g 8-12 5-7 2-2 0 3 3 1 23 3 1 0 1 37
12 Ingram, Elijah...... g 8-14 6-10 2-2 1 0 1 0 24 1 4 0 2 38
01 Davis, Shaun........ 2-5 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 2 4 2 2 0 2 18
04 Lawrence, Trevor.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
20 Hall, Chris......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
34 Ford, Kevin......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 11
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 30-63 12-21 11-14 17 18 35 10 83 12 14 4 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-34 44.1% 2nd Half: 15-29 51.7% Game: 47.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 8-13 61.5% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 57.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 11-14 78.6% Game: 78.6% 1
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HOME TEAM: Utah State 16-6, 7-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Harris, Nate........ f 9-14 0-1 0-0 1 5 6 5 18 5 3 3 3 38
24 Peterson, Durrall... f 7-13 5-9 2-4 5 2 7 0 21 2 2 0 1 34
03 Matheus, Cass....... c 3-5 0-0 1-2 2 2 4 4 7 0 2 3 0 21
02 Pak, David.......... g 3-5 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 2 8 5 1 0 1 28
20 Carroll, Jaycee..... g 4-9 3-8 0-0 0 3 3 2 11 1 2 0 0 34
21 Session, Chris...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8
23 Huber, Chris........ 2-3 2-3 0-0 0 2 2 3 6 7 2 0 2 17
30 Spicer, Chaz........ 2-8 0-0 2-2 2 2 4 1 6 1 1 0 1 20
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 30-57 12-25 5-8 11 18 29 17 77 22 13 6 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-30 56.7% 2nd Half: 13-27 48.1% Game: 52.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-9 55.6% 2nd Half: 7-16 43.8% Game: 48.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 62.5% 1
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Officials: Andy Rios, Ronnie Hernandez, Martin Cota
Technical fouls: New Mexico State-None. Utah State-None.
Attendance: 10270
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
New Mexico State.............. 38 45 - 83
Utah State.................... 39 38 - 77
ID-363596
Points in the paint-NMSU 28,USU 30. Points off turnovers-NMSU 20,USU 20.
2nd chance points-NMSU 21,USU 10. Fast break points-NMSU 0,USU 0.
Bench points-NMSU 4,USU 12. Score tied-7 times. Lead changed-10 times.
Last FG-NMSU 2nd-01:45, USU 2nd-00:25.
Largest lead-NMSU by 11 1st-07:17, USU by 5 2nd-08:00.