New Mexico State Uses Defense to Beat Titans : Basketball: Cal State Fullerton shows it can’t handle the pressure, making 26 turnovers in an 85-68 loss.

The New Mexico State basketball team is erratic shooting from the outside, inconsistent from the inside and terrible from the free-throw line, but there is always one constant in the Aggie attack--good defense.

Using a tenacious, half-court trap and its trademark match-up zone, New Mexico State helped force 26 Cal State Fullerton turnovers en route to an 85-68 Big West Conference victory in front of 7,927 in the Pan American Center.

James Dockery, a 6-foot-8 center, had 19 points, 11 rebounds and six steals, and four teammates scored in double figures to help the first-place Aggies improve to 19-3, 11-2. New Mexico State, thanks to several fast-break opportunities, shot a season-high 59.6% from the field but only 56.3% from the line.

Greg Vernon scored 22 points before fouling out with 2 minutes 59 seconds left, and Darren Little added 19 points for Fullerton (6-17, 4-11), which trailed from wire to wire and never seriously threatened New Mexico State despite trimming the deficit to five with about seven minutes to play.

“The thing I’m impressed with is their defense contests every shot,” Titan Coach Brad Holland said. “They do a great job of hustling, rotating, and you have to hit shots with guys coming at you.”

You also need to do an outstanding job of handling the basketball, penetrating the zone, avoiding traps, making crisp passes and sound decisions. The Titans had some success, but too often they came up short on all counts.

“There’s no question New Mexico State extends your offense, hawks the ball and creates havoc, but I still feel we’re capable enough not to have 26 turnovers,” Holland said. “I know we can take care of the basketball, but we certainly didn’t do that tonight, and that hurt us.”

Fullerton was hoping to make this a landmark road trip. They won for the first time in 15 games at Nevada Las Vegas on Thursday night and had never swept the Rebels and Aggies on the same trip.

But after 10 minutes Saturday night, the only landmark the Titans appeared headed for was the school record of 29 turnovers, which they tied in a 77-64 loss to New Mexico State Jan. 8. Fullerton had 12 turnovers in the first 10 minutes--a 48-turnover pace--and trailed, 23-11.

The Aggies had a 10-point lead (33-23) at halftime, but the Titans made a run when Vernon got hot from the outside. Vernon’s third three-pointer of the second half, with 7 minutes 6 seconds remaining, brought the Titans to five, 57-52.

New Mexico State fans were getting restless, but Paul Jarrett hit a three-pointer, and two consecutive Titan turnovers led to Jarrett’s two free throws and Rodney Walker’s three-point play, as the Aggies pushed the lead to 65-52 with 6:23 left.

Vernon’s three-pointer with 3:56 left cut it to 67-59, but the Aggies scored eight consecutive points in the final two minutes to pull away to their 26th home victory in a row.

“When they cut it to five, we didn’t feel threatened,” said Jarrett, who finished with 10 points. “We have quick enough personnel and play with enough heart that we feel we can beat anyone in the conference on defense alone.”

Of course, it’s nice to have the kind of depth that allows you to play pressure defense for 40 minutes. Nine Aggies played at least 10 minutes Saturday night, and New Mexico State always seemed to have fresh players on the court.

Johnny Selvie and Rodney Walker had 12 points, and Corey Rogers added 10 for the Aggies, who had 16 steals. Fullerton center Winston Peterson scored 16 points on six-of-10 shooting, but the Titans couldn’t get him the ball inside enough.

“We never got over the hump,” Holland said. “But we were within striking distance.”