Aggies control rebounds in win over Nevada, Fox confident about NIT bid
Friday, Mar. 14, 2008 @ 10:53 pm
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - In the last two games against New Mexico State, the Nevada men’s basketball team out-rebounded the Aggies and cruised to double-digit victories.
When the Aggies prepared for the next matchup, rebounding was the most emphasized.
The Aggies stayed true to their plan by out rebounding the Wolf Pack 52-25, leading New Mexico State past Nevada in the quarterfinal of the WAC Tournament, 83-75.
“New Mexico State really won the battle of the boards,” Nevada coach Mark Fox said. “The rebounding was the biggest aspect of the game and they did a really good job on the glass.”
Aggies freshman Herb Pope had a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with 18 points. Justin Hawkins led New Mexico State in scoring with 23 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Senior Marcelus Kemp scored a team-high 19 points, Armon Johnson scored 17, JaVale McGee had 15 and Brandon Fields had 10.
New Mexico State, which will play Boise State in the WAC Tournament finals Saturday, had three players with at least eight boards; Martin Iti and Hatila Passos each had eight.
“Our rebounding was phenomenal,” Aggies coach Marvin Menzies said. “Our guys were soldiers. They were warriors out there.”
The Aggies pulled down 23 offensive boards and 29 defensive. Both totals were higher than Nevada’s defensive rebound total.
“We can’t give them that many (rebounds),” Fox said. “I think we just ran out of gas at the end.”
McGee, a 7-foot sophomore, propelled the Wolf Pack early and took the 9,893 in attendance out of the game.
At the top of the key, McGee nearly had the ball stolen, but managed to keep it and drive down the center of the lane. With Passos following him tightly, McGee’s exploded on his last step and used a right-handed dunk to give the Wolf Pack a 7-2 lead about three minutes into the game.
However, after scoring 11 points in the first half, McGee had just four in the second half.
Menzie made sure defenders quickly came over to double and even triple team him.
“We platooned him and he still got 15,” Menzie said.
Fox was very confident that his team will get a bid to the National Invitational Tournament, which is the next best thing to the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolf Pack will find out if it gets into the NIT on Sunday.
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on Friday, March 14th, 2008 at 10:53 pm and is filed under 2008 WAC Tournament Coverage, Men's Basketball, Sports.
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