New Mexico St. Aggies vs Miami Hurricanes Match Player Stats On Dec 23, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 24, 2017

HONOLULU -- Zach Lofton scored 15 points, and AJ Harris and Sidy N'Dir added 10 each as New Mexico State handed No. 6 Miami its first defeat of the season 63-54 on Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center and advanced to the finals of the Diamond Head Classic.

The Aggies (11-2) will face Southern California, an 89-84 winner over Middle Tennessee, in Monday's championship game. Miami (10-1) will meet Middle Tennessee for third place.

After Miami closed to 54-53 on two Bruce Brown free throws with 1:25 left, Lofton hit a 3-pointer with 55.3 seconds left, and New Mexico State extended the advantage in the closing seconds.

DJ Vasiljevic topped the Hurricanes with 15 points.

Jemerrio Jones staked the Aggies to a 49-41 edge on a follow shot with 8:48 left in the game. That basket capped a 7-1 run during which New Mexico State turned a 42-40 advantage into the eight-point margin before Miami closed the gap.

After falling behind 13-6 early in the first half, New Mexico State went big and it paid off in a 29-25 lead at the intermission.

Johnathon Wilkins, a 6-foot-10 senior from Lille, France, led the balanced Aggies with seven points at the break. New Mexico State hit the boards, forced the pace and created ragged play on the part of the Hurricanes, who committed 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Miami coach Jim Larranga countered by playing post men Dewan Huell and Ebuka Izundo at the same time, but each picked up a second foul and were off the court for the final 2:32 of the first half when N'Dir's follow shot with 41 seconds left accounted for the final points.

Miami, which built an early edge on the glass, led by only one, 25-24, in first-half rebounding.

New Mexico State held a 7-5 edge in second-chance points, and the teams were even with 16 points in the paint.

Vasiljevic had 13 first-half points to lead the Canes, who shot a dismal nine of 29 from the field, one of 10 from 3-point range.

Miami finished the game shooting 18 of 53 from the field.