“They were really aggressive and it was something that we talked about at the beginning of the game,” NM State head coach Marvin Menzies said. “We’d struggled with that (rebounding) so far this season, but I’ll take what we did tonight.”
The two teams traded baskets to start the first half, however, NM State broke a 13-13 tie at 14:43 and went on a 28-8 run that lasted 10 minutes. Defensively, the Aggies finished the first half on a strong note and entered intermission with a 51-35 advantage – their largest halftime lead of the season.
The Aggies continued to roll the Hatters (2-3) in the second stanza and opened up a 74-51 margin and wouldn’t look back.
DK Eldridge quietly finished with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field. Tshilidzi Nephawe played just 14 minutes, but made each minute count and dropped 14 points, while grabbing four boards.
Remi Barry helped out with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Ian Baker scored 13 points and set a career-high four steals, while Daniel Mullings finished with a career-high 15 rebounds.
The Aggies shot 40 percent (35-of-87) field and finished with 12 steals and five blocks.
Divine Myles scored a game-high 20 points to led the Hatters.
NM State (2-3) returns to the hardwood Wednesday, Nov. 26 and play host to Florida A&M. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Pan American Center.