National Basketball Association
New Mexico St. 77, Idaho 55
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 15, 2014
Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials:
# Chris Rastatter, # Larry Spaulding, # Bob Staffen
Attendance:
1518
By SportsDirect Inc.
New Mexico State 77, Idaho 55: Daniel Mullings scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Aggies rolled to their third straight Western Athletic Conference title in Las Vegas.
Sim Bhullar, a 7-foot-5, 355-pounder from Toronto, added 14 points and nine rebounds as second-seeded New Mexico State (26-9) won its fifth straight game. Tshilidzi Nephawe chipped in with a dozen points and seven rebounds for the Aggies, who earned their 21st NCAA tournament berth.
Stephen Madison paced Idaho (16-18) with 17 points. Mike Scott added 14 points for the fifth-seeded Vandals, who knocked off top seed Utah Valley State on Friday.
The Aggies trailed 8-3 but went on a 20-5 run capped by a 3-pointer by Kevin Aronis to take a 23-13 lead and they never trailed again. Bhullar had 10 points at the half as New Mexico State shot 55.6 percent from the field and took a 39-25 lead into the break.
The Vandals trimmed an 18-point deficit to 11 on a Madison 3-pointer with 13:54 left. The Aggies responded with an 11-1 run to take a 64-43 with eight minutes to play and cruised from there.
GAME NOTEBOOK: It was Idaho's last game in the WAC. The Vandals are moving to the Big Sky Conference next season. ... New Mexico State improved to 5-1 in WAC title games. ... Bhullar blocked one shot, giving him 99 for the season.
Top Game Performances
Idaho |
|
New Mexico St. |
Stephen Madison 17 |
Scoring |
Daniel Mullings 18 |
Mike Scott 2 |
Assists |
DK Eldridge 4 |
Bira Seck 4 |
Rebounds |
Sim Bhullar 9 |
Stephen Madison 10 |
Free Throws Made |
Ian Baker 4 |
Stephen Madison 2 |
Steals |
Daniel Mullings 2 |
N/A |
Blocks |
Sim Bhullar 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Idaho
|
55 |
38.3 |
2-13 |
17-22 |
8 |
18 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
New Mexico St.
|
77 |
55.8 |
5-11 |
14-17 |
17 |
35 |
1 |
2 |
9 |