New Mexico State Earned Respect With Win Over Nevada Las Vegas

The choice was obvious, the result almost inevitable.

With New Mexico State down by a point to No. 7 Nevada-Las Vegas in the final seconds of Monday night’s Big West Conference game, the Aggies got the ball to Keith Hill.

The senior guard plays against UNLV the way Michael Jordan plays against everybody. This time, Hill did more than merely slow down the Running Rebels.

Hill banked in a 16-foot jumper with five seconds left to give New Mexico State an 83-82 victory, the school’s first victory in 12 years over a ranked team and first ever over UNLV, which had won the previous 14 meetings.

Hill, who scored 50 points in two close losses by the Aggies to UNLV last year, said he didn’t have time to think about the game-winner.

“We were just running our offense and I took it,” he said. “I felt like I could make it.”

The Aggies oozed confidence. They shot 56 percent against a UNLV team noted for its man-to-man defense and consistently hit key buckets just as the Rebels threatened to break it open.

The win was the biggest for the NMSU program since the 1977-78 season, when the Aggies upset the Larry Bird-led Indiana State Sycamores, also 83-82.

“This win goes a long way to give our program credibility,” said Coach Neil McCarthy, whose team has drawn only token national attention despite its 12-1 record and 10-game winning streak.

UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian is not among the skeptics.

“I thought they played a great great game,” Tarkanian said. “Hill just made a real tough shot.”

Tarkanian also was unhappy with his team’s defensive effort.

“Defensively, we got beat a lot and they got too many tip-ins,” he said.

New Mexico State, now 3-0 in the Big West, is off to its best start since its Final Four appearance in 1969-70. The loss snapped UNLV’s streak of nine straight conference victories dating back to last season and the Rebels’ six-game winning streak. The Rebels are 9-3 overall and 4-1 in the Big West.

The Aggies trailed by as much as 11 points (52-41) late in the first half, but steadily chipped away at the Rebels’ cushion with 57 percent second half shooting.

“I didn’t think we played great, but we hung in there,” McCarthy said.

A three-point play by James Anderson with 7:23 left capped a 7-0 NMSU source that tied it at 70-all.

The game was tied three more times before Larry Johnson scored twice underneath and Greg Anthony added a free throw for a 79-76 UNLV lead with 2:08 left.

The teams traded baskets the rest of the way until Stacey Augmon converted on one of two free throws for an 82-80 Rebel lead with 1:04 left.

Reggie Jordan hit the first of two free throws for the Aggies with 34 seconds left. He missed the second, but Anderson came up with the offensive rebound. New Mexico State then worked the clock down and Hill hit the winner, the ball careening high of the backboard on its way through.

Hill finished with 19 points, while guard Randy Brown, who carried the Aggies offensively in the first half, led the way with a season-high 27 points.

UNLV got a 24 points from David Butler and 12 from Larry Johnson and Greg Anthony. Johnson, after timeouts by each team, had a final shot, but his 12-foot turnaround jumper hit the front of the rim.