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A team cannot win by three pointers alone.
So, despite the unstoppbable perimeter shooting of Utah State's Jaycee Carroll, who had 10 trays from downtown, the solid shooting and team play of New Mexico State pushed them to victory Thursday night at the Pan American Center, 93-86.
Gameplay
The Utah State Aggies came out swinging and quickly put some distance on Theus' NM State team. But the local Aggies kept in the game with solid shooting, ending the night at 62 percent as a team.
It was a good night for Mike Mitchell, David Fisher and Elijah Ingram at the Pan Am, Thursday. All three topped 20 points; Mitchell with 21, Fisher with 25 and Ingram with 28 - career highs for the latter two.
In the early going, Fish was having a tough time in the paint with a few field goal attempts being blocked by Utah State's Cass Matheus. The rejections just seemed to fire Fisher up; he would end the night with five steals and he put on an aggressive show scoring more than a few times on Matheus.
NM State kept the pressure on and turned the ball over nine times, but forced 18 on Utah State.
For awhile there it looked like the Aggies would trail the whole game. In the second half, Utah State would move ahead 64-53, largely from their red hot three point shooting. But the Aggies fought back and the game would be close from the final five minutes.
Some three point shots in the last minutes by Utah wasn't enough to keep them on top and they resorted to fouling. Thanks to solid free throws from Ingram, Mitchell and Fisher, the Aggies would pull ahead in the final moments and hold on to win.
Utah State's David park looks for a block on Aggie Mike Mitchell. PHOTO: Adron Gardner
Carroll from long distance
You really have to pat the kid on the back. Utah State's Jaycee Carroll was something else out there tonight. Duke's J.J. Redick is getting a lot of press for his tough play and good three point shooting, but Carroll scored 30 points from downtown in this game and finished with a career high 32. Carroll's ten three point shots added to Utah State's 20 total from downtown, a school record. The kid never shied away from a shot, he is totally fearless on that perimeter and he almost brought his team a victory with that fearlessness. Yet, in the end, its a team that wins games and though Utah State did execute well they didn't connect in the same way the NM State Aggies did on the stretch.
Utah State's Jaycee Carroll sends off another three. Carroll had an incredible preformance with 10 of 16 from three point land. He finished with 32 points. PHOTO: Adron Gardner
Elijah Ingram fends off David Park on his way to a career high 28 point game. PHOTO: Adron Gardner
Hungry
Walking back to the locker room, Theus raised his hand and pointed his index finger to the rafters like a number one. They're not number one yet; sometimes they don't execute in pretty ways, but this is a team of fighters. What I see is a hungry team that has tasted victory and it seems this taste is what keeps them fighting. That is what makes good basketball and that is what we saw tonight.
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