UC Irvine Loses to New Mexico State, 83-71

Any questions or doubts about the work Coach Neil McCarthy has done to revive men’s basketball at New Mexico State are being answered with each passing game.

The Aggies, 7-20 last season and ninth-place finishers in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn., are suddenly contenders. Honest.

Saturday night, New Mexico State issued further proof with an 83-71 victory over UC Irvine in front of 1,479 spectators in Crawford Hall.

Gilbert Wilburn tied his career-high with 36 points as the Aggies, who have based most of their turnabout on defense, showed they can score points as well as prevent them.

The win leaves New Mexico State alone in second place in the PCAA at 6-1 and 12-4 overall. UCI is 5-3 and 9-8.

Under McCarthy, former Weber State coach in his first season at New Mexico State, the Aggies are allowing an average of almost 17 points per game fewer than they did last season. The Aggies’ disciplined style of play helped them compile a seven-game winning streak that was snapped Thursday night in Las Cruces by a 88-79 loss to Nevada Las Vegas. The improvement has given conference coaches--including UCI’s Bill Mulligan--one more team to worry about.

“We’ve got so many good coaches in the conference now,” Mulligan said. “The guys who weren’t real good are all gone.

“I’d like to have some of those guys back.”

As much as McCarthy has meant to this team, it didn’t take much coaching to turn Wilburn loose against the Anteaters and watch the points pile up. The 6-foot 5-inch senior forward was 12 of 18 from the field, 12 of 14 from the free-throw line and had a way of making Irvine defenders look as if their feet were made of hardwood.

Said Mulligan: “Wilburn was just magnificent. We tried different guys on him, but the result was the same.”

Tod Murphy had little success guarding Wilburn, and his struggles at the defensive end seemed to carry over on offense. Murphy was 4 of 11 from the field and finished with 16 points but missed several shots inside that have been practically automatic for him this season.

“I don’t think Tod had a great game, but I know he feels worse about it than I do,” Mulligan said.

Aggie guard Kenny Travis, after a relatively quiet first half, had 16 second-half points to finish with 20. But Wilburn, New Mexico State’s leading scorer and rebounder, was the player the Anteaters simply couldn’t stop.

He had 16 points by halftime in leading the Aggies to a 32-27 lead. In the second half, his teammates kept getting him the ball, and the usual response was either a basket or an Irvine foul.

The Anteaters pulled to within three early in the second half, but Wilburn led a New Mexico State spurt in which he scored 11 of his team’s 13 points over a span of about four minutes. He capped it with a jumper over Murphy at the 6:52 mark. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw to give New Mexico State a 58-44 lead.

Wilburn and Smith combined to lead the Aggies to their best shooting night of the season: 59.2% from the field. New Mexico State also had a 31-24 advantage in rebounding.

Irvine shot 46.8% from the field and struggled to find its rhythm an offense. Johnny Rogers led the Anteaters with 20 points and 9 rebounds, and Joe Buchanan came off the bench to hit 4 of 6 shots and finish with 9 points. But beyond that, it was a pretty frustrating night for the Anteaters, one that culminated in only their second loss in Crawford Hall this season.

“We didn’t do a bad job containing their two big aces,” McCarthy said. “Offensively, it was Gilbert’s show.”

Said Mulligan: “We seem to have trouble when we play against good athletes.”

Not a good weakness to have.