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Albuquerque, N.M. • Utah State's journey into WisePies Arena on Saturday left first-year coach Tim Duryea a little crusty.
Why not?
New Mexico completely outplayed the lethargic Aggies, especially in a lopsided first half, and the Lobos cruised to a 77-59 Mountain West Conference victory in the building formerly known as the Pit.
Utah State, which dropped its third straight game, slipped to 9-7 on the season and 1-3 in league play despite Jalen Moore's 18 points.
"Just a total lack of competitiveness," Duryea said. "New Mexico came out and got us on our heels. All credit to them. They played tremendously well. But we did not respond. …
"We didn't compete on the boards. We didn't compete individually guarding the ball. We didn't help each other. We were really embarrassed as a team in the first half."
Utah State's effort — more than the final score — was Duryea's biggest concern.
"College basketball starts with how hard you compete," he said. "Before there is one X and one O in place, it's about how hard you compete — how hard you scrap and fight and claw on both mends of the floor. That has to be in place before any strategy comes into effect and we failed the test in the first half."
The game started ominously for Utah State.
New Mexico scored on its first five trips down the floor, including twice on layups and once on a rebound dunk. Darius Perkins and Chris Smith buried early 3-pointers, however, to keep the Aggies temporarily in the game.
It was 17-12 with 13:56 left in the half when Utah State crumbled.
An Aggie turnover led to a break-away dunk by New Mexicio's Obij Aget, which triggered a 14-0 run. During the 81/2-minute stretch, Utah State failed to convert 16 consecutive possessions. By the time Moore finally scored, New Mexico had opened a 31-12 lead.
"We had good looks but just didn't knock down shots our guys usually make," Moore said. "… The other thing is we were taking hard shots and they were getting run-out layups [and] run-out dunks. That compares to us shooting deep threes and [beat the] shot-clock type of shots."
At halftime, the Lobos' lead mushroomed to 43-18, meaning Utah State managed only six points from its final 27 possessions The Aggies missed 22 of their 29 field-goal attempts, including 13 of their 16 3-pointers. Only four players, led by Smith with seven points, scored.
Defensively, Utah State continued its recent struggle.
New Mexico made 19 of 30 shots — 63.3 percent. Going back to last Tuesday's loss to Boise State, the Aggies allowed 88 points on 36 of 54 shooting over 40 minutes.
"An embarrassing first-half performance — just whipped in every way," Duryea said. "… We were overmatched on the boards. Their ball movement, we just couldn't catch up to it. They did a good job driving the ball, forcing us to help and creating other things … All credit to them."
Email: luhm@sltrib.com
Twitter: @sluhm —
Storylines
R Tim Williams scores 21 points to lead New Mexico to a 77-59 win over Utah State.
• The Lobos use a 14-0 run midway through the first half to break the game open.
• Jalen Moore scores 17 points to lead Utah State, which lost its third straight game.
New Mexico 77, Utah State 59
UTAH ST. (9-6)
Evans 0-7 0-0 0, J. Moore 7-17 1-3 17, G. Moore 3-9 0-0 6, Perkins 2-8 0-0 6, Smith 5-14 3-3 14, Rector 0-0 1-2 1, Pearre 4-6 0-1 9, Taylor 1-2 2-2 4, Jones 1-4 0-2 2. Totals 23-67 7-13 59.
NEW MEXICO (10-6)
Logwood 3-3 2-4 8, T. Williams 9-13 3-5 21, Aget 3-6 0-0 6, Neal 3-10 4-4 12, Brown 6-10 4-4 18, Hunter 2-2 0-0 4, Kuiper 1-3 0-0 2, Adams 1-4 0-0 2, Furstinger 0-1 1-2 1, Jacobs 0-2 0-0 0, Mathis 1-2 0-0 3, Nesbitt 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-58 14-19 77.
Halftime—New Mexico 43-18. 3-Point Goals—Utah St. 6-29 (J. Moore 2-6, Perkins 2-7, Pearre 1-2, Smith 1-5, G. Moore 0-3, Evans 0-6), New Mexico 5-16 (Brown 2-4, Neal 2-7, Mathis 1-2, Kuiper 0-1, Adams 0-1, Nesbitt 0-1). Fouled Out—Jones. Rebounds—Utah St. 35 (G. Moore 9), New Mexico 44 (T. Williams 8). Assists—Utah St. 10 (G. Moore 3), New Mexico 16 (Neal 6). Total Fouls—Utah St. 21, New Mexico 15. A—13,476.
Mountain West Standings
Conference Overall
W L Pct. W L Pct.
Boise St. 3 0 1.000 12 4 .750
New Mexico 3 0 1.000 10 6 .625
San Diego St. 3 0 1.000 10 6 .625
Colorado St. 2 1 .667 10 6 .625
Fresno St. 2 2 .500 11 6 .647
Nevada 2 2 .500 10 6 .625
Wyoming 2 2 .500 9 8 .529
Air Force 1 2 .333 10 6 .625
Utah St. 1 3 .250 9 6 .600
UNLV 0 3 .000 9 7 .563
San Jose St. 0 4 .000 4 11 .267
Saturday's Games
Nevada 86, Air Force 63
Colorado St. 85, San Jose St. 84, OT
Wyoming 59, UNLV 57
New Mexico 77, Utah St. 59
Boise St. 81, Fresno St. 70