New Mexico St adds early drama but falls to Auburn 78-77 in opening SLC game


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SALT LAKE CITY — There will be no Cinderella story for New Mexico State this year.

The Aggies gave it their all Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City, but the Auburn Tigers simply outlasted the Aggies to claim a 78-77 win.

The win didn’t come without drama, though, as the Tigers turned the ball over twice in the final minute of the game to allow the Aggies to cut into a near double-digit lead. Following a bad pass turnover by Auburn, Trevelin Queen hit a deep 3-pointer for the Aggies to cut the lead to one and give New Mexico State life.

The Tigers extended their lead to four after a few made free throws, but former University of Utah guard JoJo Zamora hit a corner 3-pointer for the Aggies to, again, cut the lead to one with 6.9 seconds remaining in the game. New Mexico State fouled Samir Doughty, who made only one of his two free throws to make it a 2-point game.

New Mexico State inbounded the ball and went the full length of the court, as Auburn expected a game-winning 3-point shot. But a drive to the basket and kickout pass to New Mexico State’s Terrell Brown, who was fouled, on the ensuing 3-point attempt gave the Aggies a chance to seal the game from the free throw line.

Brown only made the second of his three free throws and was visibly rattled after missing his first attempt. Still, Auburn gave the Aggies life after hitting the ball out of bounds on the rebound with 1.1 seconds left and an opportunity for another game-winning shot.

The opportunity was a great look for Queen in the corner for a wide-open 3-pointer.

But Queen’s shot narrowly missed the rim and the Tigers held on to claim a nerve-wracking victory in a near sold-out Vivint Arena that had every fan on their feet in the final seconds in anticipation of a buzzer-beating shot.

Auburn’s Bryce Brown, who finished with 12 points, said the end of the game was uncharacteristic for the team but they were happy to win.

“That’s just not like us, to be honest with you,” he said. “We are normally a team that can put teams away. We had several chances to put this team away — we had several 10-point leads to put them away. It would have been heartbreaking if he had made that last shot.

“It would have been a sad day for us, but we live to see another day and another game. We made stops when it mattered most.”

The Tigers became the first team in Salt Lake City to punch their ticket to the next round of the tournament.

New Mexico State, which was a trendy pick to upset the fifth-seeded Auburn prior to the game, jumped out with the hot hand in the first 10 minutes of the game to claim its largest lead of 6 points while shooting better than 75 percent from the field for much of that time. But Auburn hit a pair of 3-pointers to keep the distance manageable before eventually claiming a lead midway through the half.

Auburn built up its lead to 9 with 5:33 left to play to put distance on New Mexico State. But Auburn failed to make a field goal in the remaining minutes of the half to allow New Mexico State to cut the lead to 3 points at the break.

In the second half, Auburn turned up the intensity offensively and hit eight 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of play to control a 13-point lead. The Aggies, though, flirte with a comeback with five minutes remaining in the game by cutting Auburn’s lead to six before the Tigers hit another 3-pointer to put distance on the surging Aggies.

Turnovers ultimately doomed the Aggies in the loss as the team finished with 16 to limit their opportunities to combat the Auburn scoring early on in the second half.

“They were capitalizing on our turnovers,” Zamora said. “Going into the game, coach told us about how they were going to mess with the outlets and try to turn us over a little bit. It got out of hand in the first half, and they tried to keep it up in the second half.”

New Mexico State guard Trevelin Queen falls to the court after missing the final shot in the second half during a first round men's college basketball game against Auburn in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP Photo)
New Mexico State guard Trevelin Queen falls to the court after missing the final shot in the second half during a first round men's college basketball game against Auburn in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP Photo)

Auburn’s Jared Harper led the team in scoring with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including 4-of-8 from deep. Chuma Okeke added 13 points and J’Von McCormick, who was a major factor in Auburn’s win according to the team, finished with 16 points.

New Mexico State was led by Johnny McCants' 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Queen added 14 points, and Ivan Aurrecoechea added 13 points and Brown added 12 points.

Auburn awaits the winner of the Kansas-Northeastern game that directly followed the first game in Salt Lake City.

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Josh is the Sports Director for KSL.com and beat writer covering University of Utah athletics — primarily football, men’s and women's basketball and gymnastics. He is also an Associated Press Top 25 voter for college football.

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