Second-half surge comes up short for NM State men in loss to Utah Valley

OREM, Utah - A frenzied second-half comeback bid by the —/rv NM State men's basketball team fell just short at the UCCU Center as the Aggies saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with a 72-68 loss at the hands of Utah Valley Saturday afternoon.

Though NM State shot 60.6-percent from the field through the final 20 minutes of action, a 25-percent shooting clip in the opening frame made the Aggies face an uphill battle for the entire showdown.

FIRST HALF
• Shot making, or lack thereof, was the defining characteristic of an uneven first half for the visiting crew. At no point did the Aggie enjoy a lead through the opening 20 minutes of action as they shot just 25-percent (7-of-28) from the field.
• The game's first four points went to the home team and the Aggies didn't ever manage to knot things back up until almost midway through the opening stanza.
• Operating down low against WAC Player of the Year candidate Fardaws Aimaq, Will McNair Jr., dropped in a baby hook shot to pull NM State even at 15-all with 11:55 left. That field goal, though, was one of the final ones the Aggies would convert in the frame.
• Utah Valley answered McNair Jr.'s equalizing score with a 9-0 run powered almost exclusively by Aimaq. A two-handed flush started the home team's scoring surge which spanned 2:45 and a baseline hook shot by "The Big Maple" wrapped it up. That score put NM State at a 24-15 disadvantage with 8:37 to go.
• Trying their best to get back into the thick of things, the Aggies used some well-timed buckets from Mike Peake to chip away at the Wolverines' lead. Through an 8-0 NM State run, Peake drained a deep two in the far corner and converted a put-back layup with 5:11 left.
• McNair Jr., again showed off his skill set down in the post with a hook shot over Aimaq to pull the Aggies within one, 24-23, but the Wolverines closed the half strong.
• Justin Harmon captained an 8-0 Utah Valley run through the final 2:29 of the frame to put the hosts ahead 32-23 at the break. Harmon splashed a three-pointer with 2:29 to go and Aimaq closed the scoring surge with a three-pointer - his second of the half - over McNair Jr.'s outstretched hands with two seconds left.
• The free throw line was a friend to the Aggies early, though, as NM State drained eight of its 12 tries from that distance, helping prevent the Wolverines from opening up a lead of double-digits.

SECOND HALF
• Blaze Nield capped off a 5-0 Utah Valley run to begin the deciding frame with a three-pointer that pushed the hosts' lead to a game-high 14 points, 37-23. Double-digits was where the Wolverines' advantage stayed until past the midway point of the half.
• Each attempt NM State made at chipping away at the Wolverines' lead was met by another field goal make by the hosts. Aimaq pushed in a mid-range hook shot with 10:06 to go that gave the Wolverines their 14-point edge back, 50-36.
• Following Nield's pull-up make from inside the three-point arc with 6:15 left, things got interesting. Staring a 57-47 deficit squarely in the face after that shot, NM State used a 6-3 run consisting of baskets from McNair Jr., Johnny McCants and Teddy Allen to trim the hosts' edge to 60-53 with 4:11 left.
• McNair Jr.'s three-point play in conjunction with another driving score by Allen made up the entirety of NM State's 5-1 run that made the Wolverines' lead shrink to 63-58 with 52 seconds left.
• Needing to make their free throws, the Wolverines did so sinking six in a row to answer every NM State two-pointer. Allen, though, hit a put-back layup with 20 seconds left to pull his team within four, 69-65, and then witnessed Tim Fuller brick both of his tries at the stripe for the home team with 15 seconds left.
• After Clayton Henry tracked down the rebound, Allen connected on a difficult runner and was fouled in the process with nine seconds left. His free throw try, though, was no good and Connor Harding chased down the rebound for Utah Valley.
• Utah Valley went 1-for-2 on its ensuing trip to the foul line, making it a three-point game. Allen was fouled in the backcourt with three seconds left but hit just one of his two tries at the foul line. Aimaq sealed the Wolverines' win by drilling both of his free throws with 1.1 seconds left.

KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Another double-double performance from Allen - his fifth of the season - consisted of a game-high 24 points to go along with a team-best 11 rebounds. Allen was joined in double-digits by Peake and Rice, both of whom brought the energy when the Aggies needed it most.
• For Peake, his 16 points represented a season-high and they came on a 7-of-10 clip from the field. The Chicago, Ill., product added four of the Aggies' 14 offensive rebounds, too, which allowed them to own a 17-9 (+8) edge in second-chance points.
• Rice, meanwhile, contributed 10 points to the Aggies' cause. That helped him become the third player on NM State's 2021-22 roster to enter the 1,000-point club for his career. Rice entered the game needing just six points to reach
1,000 for his collegiate career and the milestone bucket came on a fadeaway baseline jumper with 8:45 to go in the contest.
• The Aggies' woes, though, came from both the field and the foul line. After starting the game 8-for-9 from the free throw stripe, NM State went just 2-of-11 the rest of the way to finish with a 10-of-20 (50-percent) showing from that distance. NM State also turned in a mark of 20-percent (4-of-20) from three-point land.
• Aimaq, as usual, did his damage on the scoreboard and on the glass. The Canadian turned in a 23-point, 12-rebound double-double - his nation-leading 21st of the 2021-22 campaign.
• Harmon (17), Nield (14) and Harding (10) also finished with double-digits in the scoring column who shook off a Thursday night loss to Grand Canyon with Saturday's victory. The Wolverines shot 60-percent (9-of-15) from long-range in the win and put in 65.5-percent (19-of-29) of their foul shots.
• The loss snapped the Aggies' two-game winning streak against Utah Valley and dropped them back into a tie for first place in the WAC standings with Seattle U. The Redhawks posted a lopsided 76-50 home win over Lamar earlier in the day to rejoin the Aggies in the league's top spot.

COMING UP NEXT
• Hoping to get back in the win column at home, NM State returns to Las Cruces, N.M., next week for their first of two games. Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m., the Aggies welcome WAC adversary Dixie State to the Pan American Center for the first time in program history.