New Mexico State Has to Rally to Beat UCI

A year ago after losing to New Mexico State by 30 points, UC Irvine walked out of the Pan American Center “embarrassed,” according to Coach Rod Baker.

Monday night there was no embarrassment, “just disappointment,” Baker said.

This time New Mexico State had to scramble back from an eight-point halftime deficit to turn back Irvine, 85-80, in a Big West Conference basketball game before 6,823. The victory lifted the Aggies to 11-3, 2-1 in the conference going into Wednesday’s home game against Cal State Fullerton. Irvine is 4-6, 0-3.

“There were probably five to seven possessions in the game where we weren’t focused enough to be successful against a team this good,” Baker said. “We didn’t need a whole lot more points to win. We played pretty well against them, but we have to be very, very good against a team like that.”

The No. 24-ranked Aggies, the preseason pick to win the conference title, shot 57.1% from the field and cooled Irvine’s hot-shooting Mark Odsather in the second half with a relentless man-to-man defense.

Odsather had 17 points in the first half, including five three-pointers in 10 tries, but the Aggies held him to only one basket the rest of the way. Despite that, the Anteaters were a threat down to the wire, helped by a sparkling 25-point, 10-rebound performance by freshman forward Kevin Simmons.

New Mexico State Coach Neil McCarthy, who has guided the Aggies to six consecutive 20-victory seasons, said stronger defensive play by his team in the second half was the key.

“The man to man just got the job done in the second half,” McCarthy said. “That team will really be tough at their place. Their talent level is much improved. That Simmons is a flat-out player. He was like a windshield wiper on the boards. It seemed he got 25 rebounds instead of 10. Odsather hurt us a lot in the first half, too.”

McCarthy said he also was impressed with the play of Irvine point guard Raimonds Miglinieks, although he scored only six points. “He really deals the ball well,” McCarthy said. “When they get it together, they’re going to be a dynamite team.”

The Aggies got a 19-point boost from reserve Paul Jarrett, 13 coming in the second half. Forward Thomas Wyatt had 17 points and guard Rodney Walker added 15. New Mexico State won the rebounding battle, 37-32, but it was more decisive in the second half.

The Anteaters built an 11-point lead in the first half, but the Aggies battled back to close the gap to eight points, 46-38, at halftime.

“They made whatever adjustments they had to make in the second half,” Baker said. “With the man to man, they were able to concentrate on the guys who were hurting them. They were able to take Odsather out of his game.”

The Anteaters trailed, 78-73, with slightly more than two minutes left, but missed two consecutive scoring opportunities. Irvine made another rush to trail, 80-78, with about a minute left on a layup by Zuri Williams. But the Aggies also turned back that surge. Troy Brewer hit two free throws with 43 seconds left and another eight seconds later to stop the threat.

Despite the strong showing, Simmons, in particular, was disappointed.

“It means nothing when you lose, absolutely zero,” he said. “We had a lot of chances to win the game. It hurts to be up at half and let it slip away.”

But, all in all, Baker felt the Anteaters played well. “We’ve been playing well on most nights, but we’ve been playing some real good teams,” he said.

Irvine was playing its second consecutive game without Chris Brown, who was suspended two games by Baker.