Final Stats

USDvsNMSUbox

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The USD men's basketball team (2-4) fell to New Mexico State (5-2) 56-51 Saturday afternoon inside the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Toreros played great defense all night and held a lead late in to the second half, but the Aggies hit too many clutch free-throws down the stretch and pulled away to seal the win.

Forward Brett Bailey continued his stellar senior campaign, scoring 24 points, while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out seven assists. Olin Carter III chipped in 11 points.

"We let one get away today," Head Coach Lamont Smith said after the game. "I thought at the very end they did a great job of driving the ball and getting fouls and easy lay-ups. They are a veteran team and down the stretch they were a little bit tougher. New Mexico State played a terrific game; they are a great and tough program."

Both teams got off to a slow start offensively, combining to make just two of the game's first 21 field goals. The Toreros forced five quick turnovers and held the Aggies without a field goal for a six minute stretch early in the first half. Neither team reached double-digits until the eight minute mark.

The Toreros forced the Aggies into another cold streak at the end of the first half, holding them without a field goal for eight minutes. This fueled a USD 10-2 run, which featured back-to-back jumpers from Mark Carbone, bringing the half time score to 23-20 USD. New Mexico State shot just 22 percent (5-for-23) from the field in the first half and committed nine turnovers.

The Toreros' went up by as much as eight points before the Aggies tied the game at 40-40 with 7:17 remaining. NMSU had just one field goal for the rest of the game, but went 10-for-11 from the free throw line down the stretch to reclaim the lead and hold off USD.

The Toreros return to action when they host the USC Trojans Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. inside the JCP.