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NM STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL

Allen achieves 1,000-Point milestone, NM State erases double-digit deficit in 68-57 win over CBU

NM State moves into tie for first in WAC standings with Seattle U

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Seventy-eight games at the NCAA Division I level was all it took for the one they call "Teddy Buckets" to hit quadruple digits.

Teddy Allen joined Donnie Tillman as the two current Aggies who are members of the 1,000-point club by pouring in a game-high 22 points, Jabari Rice added 16 more and the Aggies overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to claim a 68-57 win over California Baptist Thursday night inside the Pan American Center.

Not only did NM State extend its winning streak to three games, it moved into a tie for first place in the WAC standings with Seattle U's setback at Grand Canyon. That sets up a high-octane showdown in Las Cruces Saturday afternoon between the Aggies and Redhawks.

FIRST HALF
• Powered by the play of Yuat Alok, who was making his first appearance in the Aggies' starting lineup this season, NM State appeared primed to run away with things through the first eight minutes and change. Alok's array of hook shots, dunks and all-around strong post play yielded eight of the hosts' points during their 11-2 run through the first 8:19.
• Not wanting a repeat of what happened the last time they visited the Pan American Center, the Lancers answered with a sizable run of their own. California Baptist took off on a 17-3 spurt through a span of 4:32 to quiet the Aggies' contingent and take the lead. Ty Rowell started that surge with a pair of three-pointers while Juhlawnei Stone added five of his own by operating down low and at the free throw line.
• Taran Armstrong, back in action for the first time since early January, capped off the Lancers' surge with a long ball of his own to put NM State in a 19-14 hole with 6:06 to go.
• Seven of the next nine points went to NM State as Johnny McCants produced the final tie of the half, 21-21, with his put-back layup at the 4:03 mark.
• It wasn't Armstrong, or Rowell, or Stone who hurt the Aggies late in the half. It was Chance Hunter who got hot from long range and canned a trio of triples which represented a large part of the visitors' 12-2 run through the last 2:58 of the frame.
• Will McNair Jr.'s layup with 1:08 left represented NM State's lone field goal make through that stretch as the hosts went to the locker room down 33-23 at the break.
• A 50-percent (8-of-16) clip from three-point range by California Baptist helped it grab the lead. The Aggies, meanwhile, drained only two of their 16 (12.5-percent) attempts from beyond the arc.

SECOND HALF
• The largest deficit the Aggies faced came when Tre Armstrong laced a three-pointer on CBU's second possession of the frame, making the score 36-25 in favor of the visitors.
• It was then that Allen - and the free throw line - helped NM State hit the comeback trail. Fouled on a pair of three-point tries, Allen scored NM State's next seven points - all from the free throw line.
• Those makes at the stripe were the start of a 14-0 NM State run which gave the hosts the lead for good. McCants worked through contact on the block with 14:59 left and converted a layup to put NM State on top 37-36. From that point on, the Aggies never trailed again.
• One of the Lancers' easiest shots of the night came when Rowell pranced through the lane without anyone there to stop him to score an easy layup that pulled the visitors back within two, 48-46, with 6:15 left.
• Rice answered with a one-handed runner in the lane, starting a 7-0 NM State run. Donnie Tillman concluded that surge with two free throw makes that put the hosts up 55-46 with 5:14 left.
• Daniel Akin, though, made sure the Lancers didn't go down without a fight as he punched home a two-handed jam to make matters 57-53 NM State with 3:49 left.
• The game, though, was put on ice shortly thereafter. Allen started a game-clinching 6-0 NM State run with another driving score before McCants hammered in a soaring two-handed jam.
• NM State clinched things by going 4-of-8 from the foul line through the final 1:15.

KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Allen needed 22 points to reach 1,000 in his NCAA Division I career and he got exactly that. The Phoenix, Ariz., product moved the needle to quadruple digits by draining two free throws with 1:15 to go, eliciting a road from the pro-Aggie congregation. It took Allen just 78 games at the NCAA Division I level to hit the 1,000-point mark.
• Getting his, too, was Rice who finished with 16 points on a 4-of-13 showing from the field. The Houston, Texas, product is the next likeliest candidate to reach 1,000 career points for the Aggies as he needs just 23 more to reach that milestone.
• Coming on exceptionally strong in the second half, McCants did the little things - as well as the things that brought the crowd to its feet - in order to hike the Aggies' WAC winning streak in the Pan Am Center to 30 games. The Las Cruces, N.M., product wrapped up his night with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and a pair of rejections. Like Rice, McCants is fast approaching 1,000 career points, too, needing 43 more to get there.
• For the second-straight game, NM State got the win by hitting its free throws and owning the paint. The Aggies finished with a 38-16 (+22) edge in painted area scoring and connected on 18 of their 25 (72-percent) tries from the foul stripe. Once the final horn sounded, NM State found itself with a 13-point edge (18-5) in points coming from the free throw line.
• NM State has shot just 6-of-36 (.167) from the three-point line over its last two games, but it hasn't mattered as the Aggies moved to 53-4 inside the Pan American Center in Chris Jans' tenure as head coach.
• Hunter didn't score again after his first-half outburst for California Baptist, finishing with a team-high 12 points. Rowell added 11 while Akin put forth a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Lancers' fourth-consecutive setback.
• For NM State, its win coupled with Seattle U's 78-66 loss at GCU means the Aggies and Redhawks sit tied atop the league standings.
• The Aggies grabbed yet another victory in 2021-22 after trailing by 10 or more points. NM State now has four comeback victories in which it trailed by 10 or more this season.

COMING UP NEXT
• A pivotal showdown for sole possession of first place in the WAC standings looms for NM State Saturday afternoon inside the Pan American Center when Seattle U pays a visit to the Land of Enchantment. The Aggies and Redhawks are tied for the top spot in the WAC and when the clock strikes 4:00 p.m. Saturday they'll duke it out for league supremacy.

NM State Men's Basketball

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