NMSU 0-2 for first time ever in WAC

The New Mexico State men’s basketball team is 0-2 in league play for the first time since joining the Western Athletic Conference.

NMSU fell 81-72 on Monday at Louisiana Tech to drop to 6-8 overall while the Bulldogs improved to 11-3 and 2-0 in conference play.

NMSU trailed 49-39 at halftime and opened the second half 7-for-10 to pull within two on a Daniel Mullings 3-pointer with 13:49 to play. It was the only 3 the Aggies hit on Monday while the Bulldogs were 11-for-22 from 3-point range.

“We played with a lot of heart today,” said Aggies coach Marvin Menzies, whose team lost at Texas-Arlington on Saturday. “They just really shot the lights out. It was a tough road trip but I am encouraged by the effort.”

The Aggies went scoreless for nearly four minutes before Renaldo Dixon hit from inside for two of his nine points with 9:30 to play as NMSU finished 44 percent from the floor. Dixon was 4-for-6 from the floor and led the Aggies with six rebounds as NMSU out rebounded Louisiana Tech 42-33.

The Bulldogs answered most of NMSU’s runs from the 3-point line. It was Kenyon McNeail in the first half and Brandon Gibson in the second half. Gibson was 5-for-5 from 3-point range for 15 points. Gibson drained a 3 to put Louisiana Tech up 74-65 with 8:25 to play.

“We typically do a good job against the 3,” Menzies said. “They hit a lot of shots and a lot of them were challenged.”

NMSU was 23-for-37 (62 percent) from the foul line, led by Tyrone Watson, who was 10-for-14 at the line to finish with 14 points. But Watson missed a pair of free throws with 6:10 to play and the Aggies trailing 74-68 as the Aggies shot 8-of-15 from the line in the second half. Gibson hit another triple to push the lead back to 79-70 with 3:05 left.

The Bulldogs led by as many as 12 in the first half. Louisiana Tech was 7-for-13 from 3-point land in the first half, scoring the most points against the Aggies in a half this season.

McNeail was 4-for-5 from 3-point range in the first half. He gave Louisiana Tech a 39-27 lead with 4:44 left in the half, but Mullings got the Aggies within six with 2:44 to play. Back-to-back Bulldogs triples helped Louisiana push the lead back to 49-39 at halftime.

Mullings led the Aggies with 21 points and Terrel de Rouen scored a career high 10 points in the first half as the Aggies were 15-for-22 (68 percent) in the first half from the foul line.

“Our guys have to understand that teams are going to get up to play us,” Menzies said. “That’s what happened in both games. That’s discouraging that we were not a little mentally tougher. I didn’t think we had the effort on Saturday night that we had tonight.”

La. Tech: Three keys and a prediction

Marvin Menzies said all the right things after a season-low 47 point effort against Arlington last week. He then said the players met privately. We will see if any of it makes a difference tonight against a program Menzies is 10-1 against.

Seniors step up: NMSU seniors Bandja Sy and Tyrone Watson do a lot for the Aggies. Watson does a little bit of everything and that includes responsibilities that should be left to the point guard this year. Despite a poor start offensively this year, Sy has remained steady defensively and he leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game. But both players have a way of disappearing on the offensive end. This team doesn't have a go to scorer, and although Bhullar looks the part, he is only out there for 20-25 minutes per game. Sy and Watson are best served as complimentary players throughout their careers. It's not their game, but they have to be better offensively.

Turnovers: Louisiana Tech forced Denver, a Princeton style offense, into 16 turnovers on Saturday. The Bulldogs force 17 turnovers per game and NMSU commits 16 TOs per game. Against Southern Miss, another team that pressed for the entire 40 minutes, NMSU turned the ball over 19 times, but they got the win at home.

Transition defense: NMSU tries to get to the offensive glass. The Aggies could have a size advantage against La Tech but if the Aggies don't score or get the offensive rebound, the Bulldogs are running. Kenneth Smith pushes the tempo and has a Daniel Mullings  like motor at the point guard spot. The Bulldogs play four guards and their biggest player is 6-9 Michale Kyser. NMSU has to get back in transition and try to limit the easy baskets or transition 3s. La. Tech only shoots 31 percent from 3, but they have five players who shoot around 30 percent.

I was ready to give the Aggies the win tonight, but they are clearly out of sorts offensively and they aren't good at taking care of the ball, which is something La. Tech thrives on. Final Score, La. Tech 67, NMSU 60

WAC champs?

New Mexico State certainly didn't appear to be the defending WAC champs on Saturday night. Perhaps the Aggies believed they could show up and win. Other than that, couldn't really tell what the game plan was from watching the game. I know the Aggies are looking at an 0-2 start to WAC though.

New Mexico State never threatened Texas-Arlington in a 68-47 loss at Arlington on Saturday in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

The Aggies scored a season-low 47 points to fall to 6-7 overall entering Monday’s WAC game at Louisiana Tech.

“We didn’t give them any indication of who the WAC champions were when we walked in tonight,” said Aggies coach Marvin Menzies in his postgame radio comments. 

NMSU trailed 37-24 after a sluggish first half on the road and never threatened in the second half.

“The bell went off for the first conference game and we laid an egg on the road,” Menzies said. “I was emotionally embarrassed by our play tonight.”

The Aggies trailed by as many as 15 in the first half as Arlington made 5-of-10 from 3-point range while NMSU was 32 percent from the floor and 4-for-11 from the foul line in the first half. Terrel de Rouen knocked down one of the Aggies two 3-point makes to close NMSU to within nine with two minutes left in the half, but it was as close as NMSU would get as the Aggies finished the first half 2-for-11 from 3-point range.

The Aggies finished 33 percent from the floor, 47.8 percent (11-for-23) from the foul line while Arlington shot 44 percent and scored 12 points off 15 NMSU turnovers.

“It doesn’t matter what we do defensively if we don’t play offensively the way we are supposed to,” Menzies said.

The Aggies trailed 54-32 on a Karol Gruszecki 3-pointer with 10:33 to play. 

NMSU closed to within 13 on a Daniel Mullings lay up with 3:20 left as Mullings led the Aggies with 21 points. Sim Bhullar had 14 points, six rebounds and five blocks in 25 minutes.

“They just kicked our butts from tipoff to the buzzer,” Menzies said. “They outrebounded us by seven, we weren’t blocking them out. We knew how well they rebounded offensively.  ... I’m upset because of the lackluster effort of not answering the call.”

Texas Arlington - Three keys and a prediction

The Aggies open WAC play tonight against Texas Arlington. Hard for me to get a handle on the new WAC teams. Arlington's three losses were to Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State but they did beat North Texas. Could the Aggies beat North Texas? I'm not sure. It should be close.

Keep feeding Sim: I picked Bhullar as the WAC Newcomer of the Year for the preseason, and before Chili Nephawe was injured, I didn't think the pick was looking good. Now that Nephawe is out, I think we have seen who the better player is. Nephawe's career high is 15 points. Bhullar has already had games of 12, 13, 17 and 25 in less than half a season. And against smaller teams, WAC teams, Bhullar has been dominant, shooting 63.5 percent from the field. Arlington's biggest player is Jordan Reeves at 6-10. Reeves averages a double double, but NMSU should have another good size advantage.

Win the ball control game: The Aggies have to take care of the ball on this first road trip as both teams seem to create turnovers. Unlike Louisiana Tech though, Arlington doesn't shoot the 3 very well at 36 percent but UTA does force 17 turnovers per game. NMSU needs to continue taking care of the ball, cutting back on their 16 turnovers per game. Arlington on the other hand, turns the ball over 20 times per game. NMSU could use those turnovers to get some easy baskets.

Get off to a fast start: I want to see NMSU get off to a good start tonight. The Aggies have been solid on the road against good teams. Now they play a team they are better than on the road. The Aggies have to start showing they have improved.

I'm going with the Aggies, 71-64. I think the Aggies have found some  offensive balance with Aronis and Buovac and Sim Bhullar inside.

Watered down WAC

Sim Bhullar has dominated WAC like undersized teams of late. Aggies could ride Bhullar to another WAC title.

LAS CRUCES — The Western Athletic Conference has survived as a basketball league for the time being.

But this is truly the last year the league will remotely resemble the same conference that New Mexico State joined in 2005-06 as Utah State, San Jose State and Louisiana Tech join the mass exodus of familiar foes after this season. The quality of the league has suffered, but this year’s WAC consists of 10 schools, including five newcomers — four of whom won’t be around next year.

It could be a fun race to watch, but don’t get too attached to one particular team because it will all continue to shake up next season.

Here are five story lines as WAC play opens this weekend:

Off to an average start: It doesn’t get much more mediocre than this. WAC teams combined for a 49-49 start to the season in non-conference play. The WAC is the No. 18 RPI conference in the country as only three teams enter conference play better than .500. Some schools like New Mexico State and Denver have played challenging non-conference schedules while failing to gather quality wins while others such as Utah State has collected wins without testing themselves against quality competition. More teams means 18 league games. It’s likely that 15 wins can win the league title in what should develop into a three, possibly four-team race. It results in what has been the case for some time — only one WAC team will enter the NCAA Tournament. 

Aggies vs. Aggies: Either New Mexico State or Utah State has won the last four WAC Tournament championships. Rivalries are born when championships are on the line, but this year will be the last time both will be in the league as the UtAgs head for the Mountain West next season. NMSU has won three tournament titles since joining the league with Utah State in 2005-06. The Aggies are 2-1 against Utah State in WAC Tournament play, beating Utah State in the 2006-07 and 2009-10 championship games. Utah State has appeared in the WAC Tournament championship game in five of the seven years since joining the league. The two programs were picked atop the WAC once again. It would only be fitting to settle things with another NCAA bid on the line.

Watch out for those Bulldogs: Louisiana Tech is proving to be no one-hit wonder after spoiling its way into the WAC Tournament championship game last year as a No. 5 seed. The Bulldogs are 9-3 this season and they lead the WAC in scoring with 73.8 points per game. Defensively the Bulldogs are fourth in the league at defensive field goal percentage (40.8 percent) and they force 17.5 turnovers per game.

New faces: WAC coaches picked Denver to finish third in the preseason poll as the Pioneers were the highest regarded of the five new schools. But the Pioneers have done little in the non-conference to inspire confidence with just four wins despite playing one of the league’s toughest schedules. Texas Arlington is 5-3 entering WAC play.

Top players: Daniel Mullings is the best player on New Mexico State’s roster, but the Aggies have found a dominant presence in 7-foot-5 freshman center Sim Bhullar. The Aggies will have a substantial size advantage on opponents in league play. In the Aggies last three games against such teams (Southern Mississippi, South Alabama, Missouri State), Bhullar is shooting 78 percent and averaging 18 points per game. San Jose State’s James Kinney leads the WAC ins scoring with 22.6 points per game and Louisiana Tech’s super sophomore Raheem Appleby is third at 17.8 points per game. The WAC’s preseason player of the year, Utah State’s Preston Medlin, has been slow to heat up, averaging 13.6 points per game to start the year.

6-6 entering WAC

After a 71-51 victory over Missouri State on Saturday, New Mexico State enters WAC play 6-6.

I wanted to see if you are disappointed? Is it where they should be? Concerned?

I had the Aggies going 7-5 entering WAC play so I'm not surprised by the record. This team had a lot of things to work through coming into the season so some growing pains were to be expected. I think the Aggies will be fine without Nephawe with Bhullar and Dixon playing center. Not as deep but I doubt Nephawe could score 25 like Bhullar did on Saturday.

The point guard spot appears to be KC Ross-Miller's despite mediocre results like a 1to1 assist to turnover ration, not what you are looking for from that spot. I don't think the WAC is going to be that good this year and the Aggies should still contend but I could see them losing games they shouldn't throughout the season, perhaps costing them a shot at a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.

Lobos 68, Aggies 63

Tyrone Watson
"I would say they played better defense in the second half on the 3-point line. Overall we were 10-for-17 we were making 3s but we just fell short. ... Our shooters were on the bench so that could be a little frustrating at times when there aren't shooters on the court. We are still trying to pound the ball inside. ... Usually they let us shoot the 3s. This time we were making the 3s. They made a halftime adjustment and we struggled to make the easy ones. ... First half we shot good from the free throw line, and then ended 11-20. We spotted them nine points and they won by five. ... We looked on it on film and we weren't really pounding the ball inside. We figured if we could get (Kirk and Adams) in foul trouble, eventually they would have some problems. ... We try to do it for the the city, for the fans and for the university and we just fell a couple possessions short."

Steve Alford
"We won the last four minute game and we have done that a lot this year so that's a good trend. ... (Kendall Williams) that would have changed how we subbed but he came back and he was just terrific. He's playing at a very high level. ... (Tony Snell) We challenged Tony at half. I keep telling him he is our shooting guard, not our screener. I thought in second half, he moved a lot better. He hasn't been getting to the free throw line and our whole team is getting to the free throw line. He's got to get there because he's a 90 percent free throw shooter, he is our best 3 point threat. I thought he worked a lot harder in the second half to get shots. ... Our game plan in both games, we were hoping it was going to be post play. Their big kid is big but I don't think he's going to be a double-double guy yet. I don't think Dixon could be a double-double guy yet so those shots were taken away from Sy and Watson and Mullings). We weren't going to trap, we weren't going to double. If you look at the center position in both games at the center position, if you look at points and rebounds,  I think we come out ahead. I think that was key. ... I don't think there was an adjustment. We just said contest more. They haven't been a good 3-point shooting team. To their credit, in the first half they made 3s. Aronis was a good 3-point threat we knew that and he kind of got away from us a little bit. The other guys, Dixon made a 3, Miller might have made his second all year. We weren't really concerned about it. We just wanted to contest a little better because I think the key to it was trying to take away the dribble drive. ... We caught them at halftime and just told our guys they have not been a good 3-point shooting team but they just made 6-of-7 and they are still down two."

Marvin Menzies
"Tip your hat to the Lobos. They are on a roll right now. I thought we could get a win here. Our guys were really shooting the ball well in practice but it wasn't meant to be. They are the better team and they proved it by beating us twice. ... We drove, we did what we designed to  do. We can't get to the free throw line if they don't call fouls. I have to watch the tape. I think we were hit a lot more than we got called. They called the games like they call the games. It's one of the components you can't control. ... Not having Chili hurts. Sim played his heart out. He's a work in progress. We didn't have the manpower to beat them tonight. I was concerned about rebounding and I challenged them there. I just have to ask them to do everything I guess. We will get there eventually. ... Kendall Williams came off a broken foot and went to work. It was the Kendall show. ... It was tough because Bandja was rebounding really well and I couldn't take Daniel out because he was subbing for (Aronis). Maybe so."