New Mexico State men's basketball team drops seventh straight, blown out at Southern Utah
The New Mexico State men's basketball team was embarassed on the road on Thursday at Southern Utah.
Southern Utah (14-6, 6-1 Western Athletic) swept the regular season against the Aggies, handing N.M. State a 111-76 loss on Thursday.
The Aggies lost their seventh straight game to fall to 7-12 and 0-7 in the WAC. It was the first time N.M. State lost by more than 30 points since the 2009-10 season when the Aggies lost at St. Mary's and UCLA and Thursday was the worst conference loss since a 42-point loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt and the second most points the Aggies have allowed all time in a conference game.
N.M. State travels to Utah Tech (1-5 WAC) for a game on Saturday.
New Mexico State is 0-7 in conference play for the first time since the 1954-55 season under Presley Askew when the Aggies started 0-9 in the Border Conference, and it's the first six-game conference losing streak since 2004-05 when the Aggies lost 10 straight in the Sun Belt.
"They hit nothing but the bottom of the net," Aggies Coach Greg Heiar said in his postgame radio comments. "They did a great job moving the ball. Sixteen (of Southern Utah's 3-point attempts) in the first half were uncontested.
"This is unacceptable. We practice way harder than we played. ... Based on the last three practices we had, I would have said I was confident coming into this game. ... You are supposed to go to another level when the lights come on. For whatever reason, we are not and it's disappointing."
Southern Utah shot 64 percent from the field and was 20 for 35 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range on Thursday with 14 made 3s for a 58-38 halftime lead.
Xavier Pinson led the Aggies with 17 points on Thursday.
Aggies guard Anthony Roy scored eight points in 23 minutes on Thursday. Thursday was Roy's first appearance in a road game since November. Roy is on probation through 2025 after he pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement in an Idaho court to a 2021 felony count of possessing a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver.
NM State women lose in OT at Grand Canyon
The New Mexico State women's basketball team dropped to 9-10 and 4-3 in the WAC after a 69-62 overtime loss at Grand Canyon on Thursday.
The Aggies came back from eight points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 60-60 after regulation.
Aggies guard Molly Kaiser (16 points) missed a potential game-winner in regulation, but Grand Canyon outscored the Aggies 9-2 in overtime.
Kaiser was one of five Aggies to score in double figures with Tayelin Grays scoring 11 points with seven rebounds.
The Aggies play at Seattle on Saturday at 8 p.m.
Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @jpgroves.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico State men's basketball blown out at Southern Utah
