Jan. 7, 2012
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
RUSTON, La. - Heading into Saturday's conference opener, Louisiana Tech head coach Mike White said that New Mexico State forward Wendell McKines would be the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year if the season ended today.
Saturday night McKines didn't do anything to change White's opinion as he scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Aggies to an 83-73 victory over the Bulldogs before 2,263 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.
The loss drops the Bulldogs to 8-8 on the year and 0-1 in conference play while NMSU is now 11-5 overall and 1-0 in the WAC.
Tech took an early 4-2 lead just over a minute into the game on a jumper from freshman guard Raheem Appleby.
After the Aggies took the lead on two free throws from Hernst Laroche and a Hamidu Rahman dunk, the Bulldogs tied the game up at 6-6 with a layup from sophomore guard Kenyon McNeail.
With 15:04 remaining in the first period, junior guard Brandon Gibson's layup tied the contest at 10-10 before NMSU used a 12-3 run over the next five-plus minutes to take its largest lead of the half.
With nine straight points from Appleby, the Bulldogs got within four at 26-22 at the 7:46 mark of the opening stanza.
Tech inched closer at 30-27 a few minutes later after two free throws from senior forward Romario Souza. The Aggies responded with a 6-1 run over the next three minutes that was stopped by a free throw from junior forward J.L. Lewis with 2:51 remaining in the half.
Sophomore guard Cordarius Johnson made his only three-pointer of the game with 28 seconds left in the half to cut the deficit to four, but Laroche hit a jumper from the free throw line at the buzzer as the Bulldogs went into halftime down 40-34.
Gibson opened the second half with a layup but NMSU responded with a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to 46-36 with 18:36 left in the game.
Tech pulled to within 50-44 on a three-point basket from Gibson before McKines and Tyrone Watson each scored five points during an 11-2 run as the Aggies grabbed their biggest lead of the game at 61-46 with 14:36 to play.
Despite struggling at both the free throw line and from the three-point line, the Bulldogs were able to cut the deficit down to 66-58 on a conventional three-point play from Brandon Gibson with 8:48 to play.
However, NMSU shot 70 percent (16-23) from the field over the final half and 57 percent (32-56) for the game to hand LA Tech its first home loss of the year.
Appleby led Tech with 19 points while Gibson added 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Souza chipped in with 10 points.
Tech outrebounded the much-larger Aggies 44-42, including pulling down 20 offensive rebounds, but couldn't overcome a 5-of-29 performance from behind the arc and a 16-of-30 effort at the free throw line.
Along with McKines, Laroche and Watson contributed 14 points apiece and Rahman added 11 for NMSU. Daniel Mullings grabbed 10 rebounds and had a game-high three blocks as well.
The Bulldogs return to action Thursday when they host Idaho at 6 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.
