San Jose State falls 75-73 to New Mexico State

Well, this one was a proverbial nailbiter but New Mexico State converted at the end and San Jose State didn't.

Like with Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, the Spartans were behind late in the second half, trailing 72-67 with 3:12 remaining.

Justin Graham tallied two free throws to cut the Aggies lead to three.

Aggie Jahmar Young was subsequently whistled for a charge on his dribble-drive layup attempt and SJSU got possession.

Graham hit C.J. Webster inside for a layup at the 2:25 mark.

That made the score 72-71.

Jonathan Gibson missed a top of the key trey attempt and NMSU was called for an over-the-back foul on the rebound.

Webster hit both free throws to put the Spartans ahead 73-72 with 1:58 showing.

NMSU center Hamidu Rahman then missed inside and SJSU rebounded but Adrian Oliver subsequently missed a jumper with 49 seconds remaining.

Backcourter Jonathan Gibson was then fouled by Graham on a drive to the basket and notched one of two free throws to tie the score at 73.

Graham nabbed Gibson's errant second attempt but he then missed on a dribble-drive to the hoop at the 11 second mark and the Aggies rebounded.

Young missed a 10-foot jumper for NMSU but Rahman grabbed the rebound and was fouled attempting a putback with 2.7 seconds on the clock. He nailed both free throws putting the Aggies up by two, 75-73.

A long Spartan in-bounds pass was tipped away in the right frontcourt with 0.8 showing. Adrian Oliver received the next in-bounds pass, turned and fired from the right corner but the shot hit the rim and missed.

At halftime, San Jose State had a 39-37 lead. Oliver enjoyed a pair of nice drives to the basket in the first 20 minutes that cut through the Aggie defenders like, well, that ol' knife through butter.

For the game, C.J. Webster was dominant in the paint and led SJSU with 22 points on 10-14 shooting from the floor. Oliver scored 15 on an off-shooting night for him and Graham supplied 12. Tim Pierce led the Spartans with 10 boards.

Ex-Richmond High star Wendell McKines led NMSU with 21 points and also topped the Aggies in rebounding with eight. Young finished with 17 points on 8-18 shooting overall. Rahman with 13 points, seven boards (four on the offensive end) and three assists exceeded his seasonal averages -- all in 28 minutes of play.

The teams were fairly close in shooting but the Aggies sank four more treys than San Jose State. The Spartans nailed six more free throws than did NMSU. SJSU won the rebounding battle 38-30.

NOTES

Former Golden State Warrior head coach Brian Winters, plus Dave Bollwinkel were in attendance. We're not sure of the current NBA affiliation of either but they were obviously taking in the various prospects.