Everything Goes According to Plans for New Mexico

Friday night’s game between New Mexico and San Diego State was barely five minutes old when Lobo center George Scott said he could tell that the Aztec players were already frustrated and confused.

Playing in front of 18,129 fans, the Lobos game plan was to jump on the Aztecs from the tipoff then let the crowd and the team’s momentum carry the Lobos past the Aztecs, who had won seven straight against New Mexico, including three in a row at the Pit.

And that’s exactly what happened as the Lobos won, 94-85.

The win by New Mexico creates a three-way tie for second place in the conference between the Aztecs, Lobos and UTEP, all 4-1. UTEP, which hosts the Aztecs tonight at 6:30, defeated Hawaii, 85-66, on Friday night at UTEP. Colorado State is in first place with a 3-0 mark.

In handing the Aztecs their first road defeat of the season, New Mexico jumped out to an early 20-point lead, and the Aztecs grew weary fighting back. They closed to within six points in the second half, but were never able to negate the Lobos good start.

New Mexico hit 17 of their first 21 shots from the field. They held leads of 15-6 after 4 minutes, 27-12 after 8 minutes and 38-18 after 12 minutes.

“They came out smoking and I think the crowd affected us at the beginning,” said Aztec guard Creon Dorsey. We couldn’t hear, our concentration was off, and we weren’t together as we usually are.”

Thanks to 20 first-half points by guard Anthony Watson, who finished with a career-high 27 points, San Diego State fought to within 12 points at halftime, 44-32.

In the first half, Watson and Leonard Allen scored all but four of the Aztec points. Allen had 8 of his 14 points. John Martens, who returned after missing six games because of arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, and Anthony Sands each scored two points.

In the second half with the Lobos playing a box-and-one defense on Watson, Dorsey hit 8 of 12 shots for 18 points. Dorsey continually tried to force the ball inside in the first half and did not take a shot. At halftime, Coach Smokey Gaines told him he had to start shooting.

With Dorsey leading the way, and the Aztecs pressuring the Lobos on defense, the Aztecs closed the gap to six, 53-47 with 13 minutes to play.

The Lobos immediately ran off nine straight points, and the Aztecs never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

“At halftime, our coach told us to expect them to come back,” Scott said. “It was a matter of us keeping our composure while they made their run.”

The Aztecs were continually burnt inside by forward Johnny Brown (28 points) and Scott, who tied his career high by scoring 22 points on a 9-for-14 shooting performance.

Scott, a 6-7 center who leads the WAC with a 66% field-goal percentage, scored 19 points in the first half when the Lobos hit 63% of their shots.

Putting the ball in the basket was no problem for a Lobo team that leads the WAC with a 53.4% field-goal percentage entering Friday night’s game.

Despite shooting 65% from the field and playing at home, Lobos Coach Gary Colson said he was never comfortable during Friday’s game.

“They displayed the best catch-up offense I’ve ever seen,” Colson said. “I was really impressed with them as a team.”

Colson went one step further. He actually compared the Aztecs to top-ranked Georgetown, which defeated his team, 69-61 in New Mexico earlier this season.

“Take Pat Ewing away from Georgetown and San Diego State is a better team,” Colson said.