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Guard Kendall Williams (24 points) and forward Cameron Bairstow (20) combined to score more than half of New Mexico’s points in a 79-70 victory over in-state rival New Mexico State at the Pan American Center on Wednesday.
It’s the sixth straight victory for the Lobos (6-1) over the Aggies in Las Cruces, which ties a school record for most consecutive road wins versus NMSU, and their eighth straight win overall in the Rio Grande Rivalry.
After taking an early lead in the first half, NMSU never was able to regain it.
NMSU (7-3) did cut UNM’s advantage to just four points early in the second half but that’s as close as the Aggies would get for the rest of the game.
Two DK Eldridge free throws cut the Lobos’ lead to six with 5:52 to go. UNM responded with a 7-2 run capped by a William’s dunk for a 69-58 lead. With 1:05 left, the Lobos had a 10-point edge and made nine free throws down the stretch to ensure their victory.
To go along with his game-high 24 points, Williams also had four rebounds and three assists. Bairstow grabbed eight boards and had two blocks.
Williams and Bairstow were UNM’s only double-digit scorers but guard Cleveland Thomas and center Alex Kirk both scored nine points. Kirk also had five boards but failed to record a double-double for the first time this season.
NMSU had two double digit scorers as well in guard Daniel Mullings (16 points) and Renaldo Dixon (15). Aggie center Sim Bhullar recorded just five points with 10 rebounds.
The Aggies bench did outscore the Lobos 26-12. Guard Cullen Neal was the leading scorer off UNM’s bench with six points on 1 of 3 shooting.
The game was tight throughout the first half until the Lobos went on an 8-0 to take a 24-16 lead with 9:39 left. NMSU kept UNM’s lead to just single digits for a majority of the first half, but the Lobos went into halftime with a 39-29 advantage after a dunk by forward Nick Banyard.
The Lobos played most of the first half with Kirk on the bench, as he sat out the last 13:50 after picking up his second foul.
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UNM shot 43.1 percent (22 of 51) from the field compared to just 38.7 percent (24-62) for NMSU. The big difference was from beyond the arc where the Lobos hit 50 percent (6 of 12) of their 3-point attempts, while the Aggies hit 21.1 percent (4 of 19) of their attempts.
There was also a big disparity in free throws as UNM made 29 of its 37 free throw attempts, including 22 in the second half. NMSU hit 18 of 20 for the game.
