New Mexico State’s second-half burst not enough to reel in Kent State

(Courtesy: NMSU Athletics)

EL PASO, Texas - After a 61-year hiatus, NM State (6-5, 0-0 WAC) made its return to the Sun Bowl Invitational against Kent St. (9-3, 0-0 MAC) on Wednesday evening.

Despite leading the Golden Flashes in rebounds and shooting percentage, the Aggies fell 73-63.
 
In terms of scoring, the Aggies were led by Issa Muhammad who finished the night with 17 points while also pulling down 10 rebounds to record his first double-double as an Aggie. DaJuan Gordon also turned in a solid performance – finishing with 15 points, seven boards and a pair of assists. Deshawndre Washington was the third and final member of the Aggies to post double digits as he scored 14 points.
 
As a team that is used to plenty of bench production, the Aggies only received four points from its reserves on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Kent St. bench managed to pour in 20 points, including 12 from VonCameron Davis.
 
FIRST HALF

• Including a score on the opening possession of the game, Kent St. jumped out to a 7-2 run, however, Issa Muhammad fueled a 6-0 run later in the half to give the Aggies their first lead of the game at 13-12 with 10:45 to play in the first period.
• Muhammad generated a lot of the early production for the Aggies – scoring nine of the team's first 19 points.
• Eventually, NM State would find itself down by two points (24-22) with 3:10 on the clock, however, Kent State closed the period on an 8-3 scoring run to put the Aggies down eight heading into the locker room despite shooting a better percentage than the Golden Flashes.
• Muhammad led the Aggies in scoring with nine points through the first 20 minutes while Kent St. finished the half with two scorers in double figures.

 
SECOND HALF

• After watching the lead balloon to 15 points in the first four minutes of second-half action, the Aggies responded with a 16-2 run of their own to reduce the deficit to just one point.
• The run was highlighted by scores from five different Aggies – led by four from both Issa Muhammad and DaJuan Quaye Gordon.
• Just as it appeared the Aggies were back in the game, Kent St. rattled off nine straight points to push the lead back to double digits.
• Muhammad would later kick start a 5-1 run to pull the Aggies back to within five points and over five minutes still to play.
• The lead would hover around the five-point area until the Golden Flashes were able to push it back to nine with a little over one minute to play. Kent St. would eventually close the game with a 10-point lead.