Aggies Furious Comeback Falls Short in Seattle

Seattle

next game:

UT Arlington

1/14/2023 | 7 p.m

ESPN+ | Comcast New Mexico | Bally Sports Arizona (Tape Delay)

Zia Country 99.5

Jan 14 (Sat) / 7 PM

UT Arlington

History

SEATTLE – The Aggies (7-10, 0-5) hit nine three-pointers on Thursday night inside of Climate Pledge Arena. They needed 10 as they fell 66-69 to Seattle U (13-4, 4-0) to remain winless in WAC play.

Eight different Aggies registered points in the game with no individual stealing the show offensively. Issa Muhammad and DaJuan Quaye Gordon led the way with 11 apiece while Xavier Pinson submitted NM State’s third double-digit scoring effort against the Redhawks. Muhammad did his part on the defensive end as well – finishing with a trio of steals and one rejection.

Despite a slow start, the Aggies finished the game shooting 40.4% from the field after converting 51.7% of their shot attempts during the second half. While the Aggie defense managed to limit the WAC’s leading scorer, Cameron Tyson, to just 14 points, Riley Grigsby picked up the slack as he poured in a game-high 27 points on 10-13 shooting.

FIRST HALF

The Aggies gained control from the start as Issa Muhammad tapped the jump ball back to his fellow teammates in the all-black uniforms. Muhammad was also responsible for the game’s first points as he drove into the chest of a Seattle U defender before finishing off the glass to give the Aggies a lead it would hold for nearly 15 minutes.
Later, sharpshooter Kyle Feit would extend the Aggies’ advantage to six points when he drained his first three since league play began to put NM State up 8-2 with 15:02 left in the opening period.
Following a pair of free throws from the Redhawks’ Riley Grigsby and an empty Aggie possession, Muhammad snatched the ball from a Seattle U ball handler and started a two-man fastbreak involving himself and Deshawndre Washington. The pair would toss it back and forth to create an open transition dunk for Muhammad.
NM State’s defensive physicality appeared to give the Redhawks issues as they held the Seattle U offense without a made field goal for the first 9:10 of the contest. However, the Redhawks were still able to compile seven points from the charity stripe. The Redhawks’ first two successful field goals came on the tail end of a seven-point streak that reduced the Aggie lead to just one point and 9:57 left on the clock.
The Aggies quickly responded as Marchelus Avery continued his hot shooting to kickstart a 6-0 run from the visitors – putting the Aggies ahead 18-11 less than three minutes after the Seattle U burst.
Maybe as an homage to the arena that formerly housed the Seattle Supersonics, the back-and-forth runs continued as they would in an NBA game when the Redhawks put together eight points with no rebuttal from the Aggies – giving Seattle U its first lead of the night (19-18).
After a Grigsby make from beyond the arc put Seattle U ahead by three, NM State would score five of the half’s final seven points to even the score at 24 points heading into the locker room at the break.
The Aggie defense did a tremendous job on Cameron Tyson in the first half as they held the scorer who entered the night averaging 20-plus points to zero points in the first while also limiting the Redhawk offense to just 1-10 from range. However, Riley Grigsby managed 14 first-half points – a total he hadn’t reached in a full game since Dec. 15
A sputtering start plagued the Aggies once again as they finished the first 20 minutes shooting 28.6% (8-28) from the field.

SECOND HALF

Grigsby continued his scoring through the intermission as he hit a turnaround jumper to put the first second-half points on the board before the Seattle U defense dared James Beck to shoot from three-point land. Beck accepted the challenge with open arms – draining his second triple in as many games while putting the Aggies up 27-26.
NM State could only restrict Cameron Tyson for so long as he finally scored his first points of the game at the 17:10 mark in the second half. Like many strong scorers, Tyson just needed one to fall as he went on to score 11 of Seattle U’s next 13 points while helping the Redhawks obtain a 10-point lead with 14:45 left to play.
The gap would eventually balloon to 14 points with just over six minutes remaining when Marchelus Avery’s second three of the night served as the starting block to a 10-point sprint from the Crimson & White that was fueled by a full-court press that forced three Seattle U turnovers in just 1:14.
Trailing 56-61 with 2:33 remaining, the Aggies saw Tyson knock down a heroic three over the out-stretched arms of DaJuan Quaye Gordon who drew the assignment of Tyson for much of the night.
NM State quickly went into desperation mode as it went on a 10-0 run in just 87 seconds to cut the lead to one point with 15 seconds remaining on the clock.
After Seattle U hit a pair of free throws to push its lead to three, the Aggies drew up a play for Avery who was already 3-5 from downtown on the night. Much to the chagrin of the Aggie bench, Seattle U’s defense was up to the task as Avery’s contested shot fell short.

NUMBERS OF NOTES

Marchelus Avery matched his career-high in threes made with three as he finished the night with nine points and seven boards.
Issa Muhammad turned in his third consecutive game with 10 or more points as he finished with 11 points in his return to the starting lineup.
Including tonight, Xavier Pinson started WAC play with 14 consecutive free throws without a miss, however, the streak would come to a close during his second attempt of the game.
Kyle Feit knocked down a pair of threes on Thursday as he finished the night with multiple made three-pointers for the first time since going 4-9 against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 22
After scoring five combined points in his previous two outings, DaJuan Quaye Gordon tallied 11 points to post his 10th double-digit scoring effort of the year.
NM State forced 18 Seattle U turnovers to mark the most any Division I opponent has turned the ball over against the Aggies this season. Additionally, the Aggies stayed in the Redhawk passing lanes as Seattle U recorded only five assists – a low season for Aggie opponents.
Riley Grigsby’s 27 points is the most any opposing scorer has registered against NM State this season.

++NM State++