Aggies Leave Anteaters in the Dust

New Mexico State expected a challenge from UC Irvine in the Big West basketball tournament Thursday, but the Aggies didn’t get it.

Irvine fell behind by 22 points at halftime and was overwhelmed, 70-51, in Lawlor Center.

“It was a 50-50 game at our place the last time we played before we made some free throws at the end to win (66-59), so we expected to have to play a real good game,” New Mexico State Coach Lou Henson said.

But it turned out to be a ho-hum victory for the Aggies, with guard Billy Keys scoring 23 points and freshman reserve Dennis Desmond getting 14. Ben Jones led Irvine with 15 points and Marek Ondera had 13.

With the victory, New Mexico State (21-8) advances to a semifinal tonight against Long Beach State. Irvine ended its season with a 14-14 record.

The Anteaters shot 32.1% from the field, only 23.1% in the second half. The Aggies shot 49.6% for the game after shooting 64% in the first half.

The runaway was particularly disappointing to Irvine’s two seniors, Ondera and Adam Stetson.

“We went hard all week, and I thought we’d be ready, but we just didn’t do it” Ondera said. “It wasn’t one of our better games. I wish our effort had been better. I didn’t want to go out this way. That’s probably the worst game we’ve played since the one at Santa Barbara. We were never in it.”

The Anteaters were beaten by UC Santa Barbara, 55-40, in early February but came back to win four of their last five regular-season games.

Winning the tournament championship last season probably helped the Aggies this time, Stetson said.

“They had that experience, and they knew what it took to win those games,” Stetson said. “We didn’t step up in the beginning. I thought we played better in the second half, but we were already down too far.”

Henson was particularly pleased with his team’s effort in the first half, when the Aggies built a 50-28 lead.

“That may have been as good a half as we’ve played all season,” Henson said. “Our offense was outstanding. We shot the ball well, and Keys had a fine game. “

Keys, who was four of seven on three-point attempts and seven of 13 from the field, said Irvine’s defense gave him plenty of room to shoot.

“On the pick and roll, they sagged off, so I just took what their defense gave me,” Keys said.

Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said he wasn’t surprised by the Aggies’ strong performance.

“We knew they’d be ready to go this time of the year,” Douglass said. “We’ve been playing well the last three weeks, but this didn’t resemble the way we’ve been playing.”