Vandals fumble upset bid

MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho has been haunted by scoring droughts all season, but it looked like the Vandals would avoid a dry spell Thursday night against New Mexico State.

They knocked down 3-pointers, led at half for the first time this season, led by double digits for the first time this season and seemed poised to knock off one of the Western Athletic Conference preseason favorites – until the drought hit.

Idaho saw a 10-point lead dissolve in a turnover-filled 5-minute, 22-second scoreless span as the Aggies rallied for a 61-56 WAC men’s basketball victory in front of 1,012 at the Cowan Spectrum.

“I just warned our guys that they took a game in the second half, a game that on paper we’re supposed to win, but I’m not sure we deserved it with the way we played in the first half,” New Mexico State coach Reggie Theus said. “We deserved it in the second half, because we came out and played the way we should have at the beginning.”

Idaho, which dropped to 2-13, 0-3, probably deserved better, but it will have to settle with one of its better efforts of the season. The Aggies (13-3, 3-0) won their 12th straight.

“We played well,” Idaho first-year coach George Pfeifer said. “We just didn’t play well enough to win the game.”

For roughly 35 minutes, Idaho was in position to spring an upset. Despite being outsized on the interior, Idaho held its own as junior forward Darin Nagle put up 13 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots, the most by a Vandals player since Frank Waters swatted seven in 1992.

Nagle led a 3-point parade that stunned NMSU early. Seven Vandals combined to make 8 of 17 3-pointers in the first half as Idaho led 31-27. Beyond its long-range accuracy, Idaho battled evenly on the boards against the more athletic Aggies and it chased down more than its share of loose balls.

“This is a game they really wanted to win,” Theus said of Idaho. “They were prepared and if you looked at what was going on on the floor, they came out and played better than we did at the beginning. And they played harder.”

The Vandals scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 40-27 lead. The Aggies pulled within 51-43 before UI freshman forward David Jackson connected on a midrange jumper with 6:55 left.

That would be Idaho’s last field goal of the game. Empty possessions stacked up as Idaho committed 10 of its 22 turnovers in the final 8 minutes. After Jackson’s field goal, Idaho attempted just three shots in the next 6 minutes.

“We didn’t really handle their pressure like we were in the beginning,” Nagle said. “They were getting up in us and anybody would get (the ball) and they’d get a little tight with it and make a pass they didn’t want to make. That’s where we needed to be calm and tough with the ball.”

Justin Hawkins turned two errant passes into breakaway dunks and Tyrone Nelson added another slam after another stray pass that evened the score at 53. Nelson’s hanging putback with 3:06 left gave NMSU the lead for good.

Nagle’s free throw finally snapped the scoreless spell, but NMSU hit 3 of 4 free throws and former Pullman High standout Fred Peete sealed it with a rebound and putback with 40 seconds left.

Peete finished with 14 points. Idaho’s Keoni Watson led all scorers with 17.

N. Mexico St. 61, Idaho 56

New Mexico State (13-3, 3-0)—Hawkins 4-7 1-1 9, Fisher 1-3 2-4 4, Ingram 5-9 0-0 15, Passos 1-6 0-0 2, Peete 6-14 2-2 14, Davis 4-10 4-7 12, Knauber 0-2 0-0 0, Gibson 0-3 0-0 0, Nelson 2-6 1-3 5, Steward 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 10-17 61.

Idaho (2-13, 0-3)—Watson 5-12 5-6 17, Crowell 1-3 0-0 3, Avworo 2-3 0-1 5, Nagle 4-9 1-2 13, Jackson 3-4 3-5 10, C.Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Webb 1-7 2-2 5, Morris 1-3 0-0 3, Nwoke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-42 11-16 56.

Halftime—Idaho 31, New Mexico State 27. 3-point goals—New Mexico State 5-17 (Ingram 5-9, Gibson 0-1, Davis 0-2, Knauber 0-2, Peete 0-3), Idaho 11-24 (Nagle 4-6, Watson 2-4, Avworo 1-1, Jackson 1-2, Morris 1-2, Crowell 1-3, Webb 1-5, C.Johnson 0-1). Fouled out—Nagle. Rebounds—New Mexico State 35 (Hawkins, Nelson 7), Idaho 36 (Nagle 10). Assists—New Mexico State 15 (Ingram 5), Idaho 10 (Avworo 3). Total fouls—New Mexico State 18, Idaho 21. A—1,012.