Tandem of Allen and Rice rip Grand Canyon as NM State scores 71-61 win

Revenge?

Maybe - just depends on who you ask.

A rivalry game? Again, different responses will be invariably be elicited from different people.

An atmosphere that could best be described as "bonkers", though? There wasn't no doubt about it.

Making a bid to become the first WAC team since NM State linked up with the league to defeat the Aggies four consecutive times, Grand Canyon instead ran headlong into the full force of a Pan American Center crowd hungry to secure victory. That sizable contingent saw Teddy Allen (28 points, 12 rebounds) and Jabari Rice (18 points, 12 rebounds) score 23 of NM State's final 28 points as the Aggies battled back from a six-point second-half deficit to claim a 71-61 win over Grand Canyon Saturday night.

The heroics of Allen and Rice helped NM State snap its first three-game losing skid to a WAC opponent since the 2010s and the Aggies just a single game back of the top team in the WAC (Seattle U) by making it a perfect 9-0 against the Lopes inside the Pan American Center.

FIRST HALF
• Eager to exorcise their 2020-21 demons against the Lopes, NM State bounded out to a 10-4 lead in the game's first 2:56. Rice made sure the Aggies' congregation would be treated to an early lead by splashing both of NM State's three-pointers through the hosts' opening salvo.
• Minutes later, Donnie Tillman got his defender in the air with a pump fake outside the three-point arc and drove to the tin to unleash a powerful one-handed flush which handed NM State its largest lead of the frame, 20-13. With 11:12 to go, though, Grand Canyon had plenty of time to make a run and that is exactly what the Lopes did.
• Ten of the game's next 13 points were scored by the visitors as NM State was limited to just a single field goal make for a span of almost six minutes. With the Aggies misfiring from the field, Grand Canyon used scores from five different individuals to post the game's first tie since 0-0 with 6:24 left in the half. Chance McMillian deadlocked things at 23-all by splitting a pair of tries at the foul line.
• Breaking the tie quickly, NM State took off on a 6-0 run of its own thanks largely to Rice. The Houston, Texas, product sandwiched 2-of-2 trips to the free throw line around a driving one-handed jam by Will McNair Jr., to put the hosts back up by a 29-23 score with 5:06 left in the frame.
• NM State didn't let Grand Canyon convert a single field goal try in the half's final 6:44, but the foul line helped the Lopes stay afloat. Each of the visitors' final five points in the half came from the charity stripe, but Allen's driving layup preceded Yuat Alok's sweeping hook shot with 1:52 left to send NM State to the locker room with a 33-267 lead.
• Though GCU shot just 26.7-percent (8-of-30) from the field, the Lopes used a 9-of-10 (.900) effort from the free throw line to remain within striking distance. Shot making - at a rate of 52-percent (13-of-25) aided the Aggies' cause as they hit just 41.7-percent (5-of-12) of their free throws in the frame.

SECOND HALF
• NM State maintained its lead through the first seven minutes of the second half before Grand Canyon made its push. Immediately after Tillman took a 1-of-2 trip to the foul line with 12:57 left, the Lopes went
to work and began cutting into the Aggies' 42-35 edge.
• Long balls and free throws were what the Lopes were working with for a span of 2:20 as they tried to earn their first-ever victory inside the Pan American Center. Walter Ellis, Holland Woods and Taeshon Cherry each connected on a triple to kick-start a 14-1 Grand Canyon run that put the Aggies on their heels.
• Things got a little bleaker for NM State after Clayton Henry fouled Woods on a three-point try with 10:24 left. Making matters worse, a technical foul assessed to the Aggies' bench resulted in five free throw makes by Woods and a 49-43 lead once the dust had settled.
• Fortunately, NM State's resilience shined through. Rice found Johnny McCants soaring to the rim and hit the Las Cruces, N.M., product with a pass that resulted in a two-handed dunk. That rim-rocker sapped the momentum from the Lopes' corner and served as a rallying cry for the Aggies.
• McCants' jam signaled the start of a 28-12 NM State run to close out the game and it was the Allen/Rice combo that did most of the damage. Rice deftly worked his way inside for a layup to cap a 7-0 NM State run which gave the hosts a 50-49 lead with 7:47 left.
• Woods did answer with a three-point play to give the lead back to the hosts, but the layup that started that sequence of events was one of just three Grand Canyon drilled in the last 7:25.
• Allen began an 8-0 NM State run that put the hosts ahead for good with a pair of free throw makes while Rice ended the surge with another twisting layup that made the hosts' lead 58-52 with 5:31 left.

• Grand Canyon could not come up for an answer for the Aggies' one-two punch of Allen and Rice and that, as they say, was that.

KEY PERFORMERS/STATISTICS OF NOTE
• Yes, Grand Canyon did what it does best by making the three-point line largely useless for the Aggies, but NM State got the job done on the glass and in the paint to snap its three-game skid against the Lopes. The double-doubles of Allen and Rice helped NM State own a massive 43-28 (+15) edge on the glass. Coupled with a 34-20 edge in points in the paint, NM State remained within striking distance of the WAC's top spot.
• NM State hit its first two triples of the game - both of which came off of Rice's mitts in the opening 2:56 - before clanging its final nine over the last 37:04.
• The Aggies didn't necessarily enjoy a ton of success from the free throw stripe, going 23-of-41 (56.1-percent) from that distance, but getting there did keep the Lopes in foul trouble all night.
• Allen and Rice became the first NM State teammates to register double-doubles in the same game since January 18, 2020. That night, Rice and Ivan Aurrecoechea (affectionately known as "The Spaniard" by Aggie faithful everywhere) went for 17 points/11 rebounds and 19 points/11 rebounds respectively.
• It was Woods who fueled the defending WAC champs' quest for victory as he finished with 23 points on a 5-of-10 effort from the field. A 12-of-14 showing from the charity stripe - a location where Grand Canyon went 20-of-24 (83.3-percent) - aided Woods' high-scoring cause.
• Cherry put in 10 for Grand Canyon as did Blacksher Jr., but the latter - the Lopes' leading scorer - needed 15 tries from the field to get those 10 points. All game long, Rice made it a point to make life difficult on the offensive end for Blacksher, Jr.
• NM State hiked its winning streak in WAC games to 29 inside the Pan American Center with Saturday night's emotional victory. For Jans, his all-time mark inside the facility as the Aggies' bench boss moved to 52-4 (.929).

COMING UP NEXT
• The middle part of NM State's three-game homestand comes Thursday night when Californai Baptist pays a visit to the Pan American Center for the first time since March 5, 2020. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. MT.