EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — New Mexico State men’s basketball played spoiler and dominated UTEP, 85-57, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Don Haskins Center on Saturday night.
“I think our guys came over here, you know I don’t want to use that old adage ‘nothing to lose’, we obviously had something to lose: a game, but I just thought our guys were really loose, confident maybe from last week, and we played well.” NMSU men’s basketball head coach Jason Hooten said postgame.
New Mexico State outrebounded UTEP, 40-21, in the game. Along with that stat, NMSU outscored UTEP 46-22 in points in the paint and 12-8 in second chance points.
“Give them credit. Got outcoached, out played, out toughed,” UTEP men’s basketball head coach Joe Golding said postgame. “They had a great gameplan. Give Coach Hooten credit. They were playing great basketball and they came in here and just whooped our butt.
Meanwhile, New Mexico State shot 34-of-60 (56.7%) from the floor. The 56.7 field goal percentage is a season-high for NMSU. The Aggies shot 6-of-19 (31.6%) from three and shot 11-of-13 from the free throw line.
NMSU was led by Zawdie Jackson, as he scored 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor. Robert Carpenter was NMSU’s second leading scorer in the contest as he dropped 17 points on 8-of- 12 shooting from the floor. Three other Aggies finished the game with double figures in scoring. Peter Filipovity scored 15 points and Dionte Bostick and Christian Cook each scored 12 points.
UTEP only had two players reach double figures in scoring in Saturday night’s game. David Terrell Jr. led the Miners with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor. Otis Frazier III recorded 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor. As a team, UTEP shot 18-of-50 from the field and 7-of-21 from three.
NMSU held UTEP to 36% shooting from the field and 33% from three-point range.
UTEP, the nation’s leader in turnovers per game, only forced New Mexico State into 10 turnovers, which is a season low from the Miners.
With the win, New Mexico State improved to 10-6 on the season and 3-0 in Conference USA play. The Aggies are the only undefeated team in league play after the first two weeks of CUSA play. New Mexico State sits on top of the CUSA standings with a 3-0 league record.
UTEP falls to 12-4 on the season and 2-1 in CUSA play. The loss to NMSU was the Miners’ first of the 2024-25 season. UTEP is now 9-1 in homes games so far this season.
The loss was very, very disappointing for not only the team but the UTEP basketball fan base as well. In front of a sold-out crowd at the Don Haskins Center, UTEP suffered a 28-point loss.
“Now we ain’t drinking any Kool-Aid anymore. We just got embarrassed and popped at home in front of a great crowd. I am embarrassed for our crowd and they deserve better than that.” Golding said postgame.
UP NEXT
UTEP (12-4, 2-1 CUSA) will play two road games. The Miners play at Liberty on Jan. 16 and then at FIU on Jan. 18.
New Mexico State (10-6, 3-0 CUSA) will play two road games. The Aggies will play at FIU on Jan. 16 and then at Liberty on Jan. 18.
Read: Read More