Seattle University could not hold down New Mexico State as it had in the first meeting of the season between the two teams, as the Aggies defeated the Redhawks, 73-47, Thursday night in a Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball game at the Pan American Center.
Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) was the only Redhawk to reach double figures in the scoring column, finishing with 15 points, while three other Seattle U players earned six points apiece. Seattle U was able to get to the free throw line on a consistent basis, making 20-of-27 attempts from the charity stripe during the night.
New Mexico State (16-10, 8-1 WAC) opened a 10-3 lead four minutes into the game thanks to three-pointers by Ian Baker and Remi Barry, but the Redhawks answered with three-pointers from Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) and Umipig to closer their deficit to one at 10-9.
After a jumper by Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) put Seattle U on top, 11-10, the Aggies rattled off 11 unanswered points, the first five scored by Pascal Siakam, to retake the lead at 21-11 with 9:11 remaining in the first half. A jumper by Umipig closed the Redhawk deficit to seven at 27-20, but New Mexico State closed out the first half on a 7-1 scoring run to extend its advantage to 34-21 at halftime.
Shore Adenekan (London, England) scored the first four points of the second half for the Redhawks, but the Aggies responded with a 17-6 scoring run, including nine points scored by DK Eldridge, to take a 20-point lead at 51-31 halfway through the second half. The two teams basically traded baskets the rest of the way as the Aggies maintained their hold of the conference lead with the victory.
Siakam shot 8-of-11 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free throw line as he finished with 24 points and seven rebounds, while Eldridge and Tshilidzi Nephawe collected 11 points apiece. As a team, New Mexico State shot 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the field, including 3-of-13 from behind the three-point line, and 82.8 percent (24-of-29) from the free throw line. The Aggies won the rebounding battle, 35-27, and scored 15 points off 17 Redhawk turnovers.
Seattle University (11-12, 4-5 WAC) heads to Edinburg, Texas, for a Valentine’s Day matchup against the UTPA Broncs Saturday, Feb. 14, starting at 7 p.m. local time (5 p.m. Pacific time). The game will be broadcast on 770 AM KTTH, with Gary Hill Jr. providing the play-by-play descriptions from courtside at the UTPA Fieldhouse. The Redhawks then play their final three home games of the regular season, starting Wednesday, Feb. 18, against UMKC beginning at 7 p.m. at KeyArena. Tickets for the remaining Seattle U home games are on sale through Ticketmaster and the KeyArena Box Office.