BUFFALO, N.Y. –
The New Mexico State University men’s basketball program has had a number of successful seasons over the past few years. However, almost all of them have been marked by unfortunate endings in the Division I NCAA tournament. The farthest the NMSU men’s basketball program has ever gone in “The Big Dance,” a nickname used to refer to the tournament, was the Final Four in 1970, when the late and legendary Lou Henson was head coach.
Fifty-two years later, the Aggies have appeared in the NCAA tournament 19 times since 1970, including their most recent 2022 appearance. The Aggies secured their bid into the big tournament by winning the Western Athletic Conference Championship for the tenth time since joining the division in 2005, beating Abilene Christian University 66-52. The Aggies were then established as the 12th seed in the West Region and were set to face the 5th seed, University of Connecticut, in Buffalo, New York on Thursday, March 17.
The first-round game for the Aggies and Huskies kicked off at 6:50 p.m., with NM State winning the tip-off. Aggies scored first, but it was a slow start offensively, as both teams executed high levels of defense. Five minutes in, the score remained at barely 2-2. Inside jump shots and some three-pointer attempts increased closing in on the 10-minute mark, making the score 12-8, UCONN ahead. Allen warmed up with two contested jump shots and a three-pointer, pulling the Aggies ahead 15-14 at 7:48 left in the first. There were two lead changes and a tie in the next few minutes, until the Aggies really heated up in the last four minutes, pulling ahead by 10. The score was 32-22, Aggies, at the half.
The Aggies came out of the half pistols-a-blazing with two three-pointers sunk in the first two minutes of the second, increasing their lead to 38-22. UCONN responded with three consecutive baskets of their own, coming up to 38-30. With the help of an Aggie turnover and a postrebound fastbreak, UCONN put themselves back in the game 40-35 at 13:50 left in the second. At 8:17, UCONN made it a one-point game, 47-46, Aggies. The score remained close the rest of the game, with the Aggies and Huskies becoming neck and neck with 52 points each at 4:55 and then 58 points each at 1:45. With 36.9 seconds left in the game and a score of 63-60, Aggies ahead, the Huskies had possession but a strong defensive effort by the Aggies caused a Husky turnover, which top Aggie scorer Teddy Allen turned into three points by racing down the court for a layup against two UCONN players, who gave Allen the basket and the foul. UCONN sparked some hope, putting up a three-pointer to bring the score to 63-60 with 18.9 seconds left. However, that hope was extinguished as UCONN fouled Allen, who had made 100 percent of his free throws that night. Allen’s free throws, and his 37 total game points, brought the final score to 70-63, causing a huge first-round upset by the NM State Aggies.
For the first time since 1993, the NMSU men’s basketball team made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The secondround matchup would be 12th seed NM State versus 4th seed University of Arkansas, who had beat 13th seed University of Vermont, 75-71, to advance. The game kicked off on Saturday, March 19, at 6:40 p.m.
The Arkansas Razorbacks won the jump ball, but Teddy Allen, nicknamed “Teddy Buckets,” scored first with a jumper. The Razorbacks responded with a three-pointer, but both offenses struggled to sink anything after that. At 14:26 in the first half, senior Aggie Johnny McCants gave up the first turnover in a series of them for the half, which gave up two points to Arkansas. McCants made up for it, sinking a deep three at 12:22 and bringing the score to 5-5. However, the Aggies offense began to struggle as Arkansas doubleteamed Allen, forcing other players to put up shots that were simply not falling. The Razorbacks started seeing success as they infiltrated the paint the rest of the first half. McCants and fellow post player Will McNair Jr. tried to compensate with some paint action, but without Allen’s contribution and a total of 12 turnovers in the first half, Arkansas continued to push forward, creating a 26-16 halftime score.
Aggie players Sir’Jabari Rice, McNair, and McCants scored a cumulative eight points coming out of the half to cut the lead and make the score 28-24, Arkansas, at 16:37. Arkansas maintained a four-point lead the next three minutes, until McCants executed an impressive pump fake at the top of the key and drove the ball to the basket for a forceful slam dunk at 12:58 left in the second. The crowd went crazy, and the score was 30-28. McCants put up another basket a minute later to tie up the game. Each time the Razorbacks offense would pull forward again, McCants responded with a bigtime play. McCants also managed to take a number of charges, causing one of Arkansas’s best players to eventually foul out from mostly offensive fouls.
After being double-teamed all night, Allen freed himself up for a crucial three-pointer with 1:09 left in the game, making the score 46-43, Arkansas ahead. Within the last minute, Arkansas responded with two points. With the score at 48-43 and 22 seconds left, Allen attempts a three-pointer but misses. McCants rebounds, passes to Allen, who passes to Clayton Henry, who passes to Rice, who sinks the three at 11.7 seconds. The game is at 48-46, Arkansas, and the Aggies foul an Arkansas player on inbound. Two made free throws bring the game to 50-46, forcing the Aggies to rush down the court with less than 10 seconds, searching for some points. Allen doesn’t take the three, and instead rushes in for a layup and makes it with 2.6 seconds left. At 50-48, the Aggies play man-to-man, hoping for an inbound miracle, but unfortunately, the outcome is a foul. The fouled Arkansas player makes both free throws, and the Aggies last attempt to score anything under two seconds falls short as McCants’s inbound pass flies out of bounds. The NM State Aggies fought till the very end, but the Arkansas Razorbacks survived with a final score of 53-48.
The 12th seed Arkansas Razorbacks will move forward to play number one seed, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, while the Aggies return home to a proud fan base in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Aggies finished the season with an overall record of 27-7.