NM State men snap 6-game skid with win at Jax State
JACKSONVILLE, Alabama – The New Mexico State men’s basketball team secured a 66-64 win over Jacksonville State in a Conference USA contest at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Saturday.
FINAL: @NMStateMBB 66, Jax State 64
New Mexico State survives a close one. Aggies snap a 6-game skid and pick up its first true road game win of the season and Jason Hooten era.
NMSU also completes the regular season sweep of Jax State.— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) March 3, 2024
Jax State had the chance to take the lead in the last seconds of the game. Jax State’s KyKy Tandy missed a driving lay-up that was contested by NMSU’s Jaylin Jackson-Posey. Posey’s teammate Kaosi Ezeagu rebounded the ball, was fouled, and then proceeded to drain one of two free throws to give NMSU a 66-64 lead with less than a second left in the game. Jax State was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.
Christian Cook, Femi Odukale, and Jackson-Posey each scored 15 points to lead the Aggies in the scoring department. Ezeague pitched in 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor and 4-of-10 shooting from the free throw line. As a team, NMSU shot 42% from the floor, making 19 shots on 45 total attempts. It’s the first game NMSU has shot over 40% since Feb. 24 (70-63 loss at LA Tech). New Mexico State also won the rebounding battle, outrebounding Jax State 36-30.
Postgame Frames 📸#AggieUp pic.twitter.com/AIyIFh1wP8
— NM State MBB (@NMStateMBB) March 3, 2024
Jax State shot 38.9% from the floor, 29.4% from three, and 68% from the free throw line. KyKy Tandy led Jax State in scoring with 15 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the floor. Juwan Purdue was the team’s second leading scorer in the contest with 14 points.
With the win, New Mexico State snapped a six-game losing streak. The Aggies also collected its first win in a true road game of the season and the Jason Hooten era. NMSU was 0-13 in true road games this season prior to Saturday.
New Mexico State improved to 12-18 overall and 6-9 in Conference USA play. NMSU currently sits in eighth place in the league standings and would be playing in the Conference USA Tournament play-in game if the regular season ended on Saturday.
NMSU does have a chance to hop out of eighth place in the league standings. New Mexico State returns to Las Cruces to finish up the regular season with a game against Florida International at the Pan American Center on March 9.
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