NMSU basketball tops Western New Mexico in short-notice game

EL PASO, Texas – Suspense grew well before the Aggies took to the court on Monday.

Fresh off an 18-day pause on all activities due to a positive COVID-19 test result within the group, the New Mexico State men’s basketball team began its search for what only marked its fourth opponent of the season.

The Aggies looked to have found that foe in Western New Mexico on Saturday afternoon. Following a 74-65 loss to Northwest Nazarene University, the Division II squad announced in its postgame press release that it would face the Aggies on Monday at UTEP's Don Haskins Center.

But, as quickly as New Mexico State fans gained hope for their team's return, uncertainty shrouded the contest when Western New Mexico removed the game from its schedule due to the contract not being finalized.

New Mexico State stayed silent as it attempted to hammer out the details, and the weekend passed without an official announcement.

Now just three hours away from Monday's 4 p.m. tipoff time, the Aggies loaded up the buses and made their way to El Paso with hopes of playing ball. Sure enough, New Mexico State confirmed the contest while on the road.

With contract complications now in the rearview mirror, the Aggies arrived in El Paso and cruised to a 70-41 win over the Mustangs.

How it happened

New Mexico State took to the court without Jabari Rice (foot), Clayton Henry (foot), Mayan Kiir (bruised tailbone) and Donnie Tillman.

Wilfried Likayi got his first start of the season as a result, and he delivered in the opening minutes. The 6-foot-9 forward drew first blood at the 18:13 mark by draining a 3-pointer, and he got the putback on a missed triple from C.J. Roberts two possessions later to give his team a 5-0 edge.

But Western New Mexico stayed within striking range, and a chip shot by Las Cruces native Tony Avalos trimmed the deficit to 25-23 with 1:04 left until halftime.

That's when Evan Gilyard II restored order, though.

A missed layup by Avalos fell into the hands of the senior Aggie with four seconds left in the half, and he dashed down the court. Gilyard heaved a 25-foot jumper as the buzzer sounded and immediately got blindsided by Avalos, who sent him to the floor with a hard collision.

The flagrant foul gave Gilyard three free throw attempts, which he cashed in on, but the veteran guard wasn't finished.

With 0.8 seconds left on the clock, Gilyard gathered the ensuing inbound pass and let it fly from the same spot he got fouled. This time the ball found the bottom of the net, giving New Mexico State a 31-23 lead at halftime.

The rest of the Aggies also found their range in the second half.

Likayi extended the lead to 34-26 with a corner triple at the 18:37 mark, and frontcourt partner Johnny McCants showed off his range on the next possession by drilling a triple from the left wing.

Now up 47-32 with 11:45 left in the game, New Mexico State got a boost from its newest member.

Freshman guard Gerald Doakes joined the team on Jan. 14, and he added to the lead by stealing the ball away from Ian Hohenstein and finishing the fastbreak layup despite being fouled. 

Doakes nailed the free throw, and he chased down a missed 3-pointer of his own a minute later before soaring to the rim for a layup that pushed the lead to 54-32.

New Mexico State never looked back, and the technical home team ultimately earned a 70-41 victory.

Monday's stars

Likayi led the way for New Mexico State with career highs of 20 points and six rebounds in the winning effort. 

Gilyard also tallied 12 points, three rebounds and two assists. Meanwhile, Doakes kicked off his collegiate career with 11 points and three boards in 14 minutes.

Breion Powell recorded team highs of 9 points and four rebounds for Western New Mexico. Marvis Odia also added 8 points and four rebounds.

What they said

New Mexico State head coach Chris Jans on the game: "It felt great to be on the sideline again and competing. I think our kids were overjoyed with the opportunity to play college basketball... This was tenuous up until a few hours before. It almost didn't come to fruition for a number of different factors."

Jans on how the team looked: "We certainly weren't in any sort of a rhythm, especially offensively, early. It was a real struggle for us to run good offense, let alone make a basket... As the game progressed, I think it was probably more just us being bigger, stronger and faster than them more than anything else."

Jans on the upcoming series against Grand Canyon: "They're really, really good. I don't see any weakness in them... We'll have more than our hands full to try to figure out how to play against those guys."

What's next

New Mexico State (3-1) is set to kick off WAC play with a two-game road series against Grand Canyon (10-3) on Friday and Saturday in Phoenix, Arizona. Both contests are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. MT.

The Aggies swept last season's two-game series against the Lopes by an average of 17 points per game.

Justin Martinez can be reached at (575) 541-5455, JMMartinez@lcsun-news.com or @JTheSportsDude on Twitter.