Takeaways from NMSU basketball's win vs Samford: Aggies roll over Bulldogs, remain unbeaten

“He’s on fire!” the voice from NBA Jam probably said like a broken record throughout New Mexico State’s win over Samford on Friday, Nov. 21.

And if the mysterious voice wasn’t in the Pan American Center, he’ll be kicking himself for missing the Aggies (4-0) go en fuego.

They shot a lethal 54.4% from the field in their 81-72 win over the Bulldogs (3-4). A respectable 7-for-16 mark from 3-point range was also recorded by the home team.

It looked like it was going to be only an adequate shooting night for NM State, as it made only five of its first 13 shots. But things heated up from there as the Aggies ended the first half as they drained 13 of their next 18 shots, including a run of just two missed shots in 13 attempts.

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It would only get better in the second half for NM State. The Aggies shot 50% from the field and led by as much as 21 points. NM State cooled off in the final few minutes and failed to convert a shot in the final 3:47 of play, which allowed Samford to make the scoreline more respectable. However, the Aggies still ended with a tremendous shooting percentage and had four players score in double figures.

The Aggies particularly dominated in the paint. That’s where NM State scored 46 points, beating its season-high of 40 against Adams State in its season opener on Nov. 4. Reserves also stepped up, as the Aggies earned 42 bench points to make up more than half of their total.

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Here are three takeaways from the game, which saw NM State remain unbeaten:

Mims goes perfect

The Aggies’ marquee forward transfer had his most efficient offensive night as an NM State player.

The former Idaho player scored 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting, including one 3-point shot. He also snagged a team-high 11 rebounds to earn his first double-double of the season.

One of Mims’ most notable moments came right at the end of the first half. An inbounds play was botched by the Aggies and appeared to end on an airball 3-pointer from guard Anthony Wrzeszcz while double-teamed. That was until the shot was grabbed out of the air by Mims for a putback bucket.

The buzzer-beating field goal went down as a dunk on the stat sheet.

Mullen’s breakout evening

We haven’t seen much of Hampton transfer forward Kyrese Mullen. That is, until tonight.

Mullen showed off his skills with 10 points, the most of any NM State bench player against the Bulldogs, on 5-for-8 shooting. The paint seemed to be where he felt comfortable, as every one of his buckets came on layups.

All of Mullen’s points came in the first half.

Mullen played three seasons at Hampton 8.9 points and 7.6 rebounds across 89 games (59 starts). He shot nearly 45% from the field as a Pirate.

Aggies’ defense improves in second half

The Bulldogs shot 48.1% from the field in the first half, which kept the game at single-digits (40-32) and would’ve been a season-high allowed by NM State had it been completely or closely sustained.

But the Aggies put the clamps on when they came out of the locker room. Samford shot a dismal 33.3% in the second half at 11-for-33.

The Aggies’ perimeter defense was noteworthy throughout. Samford only drained four of its 17 3-pointers in the first half and made only four more before the final buzzer.

NM State’s defensive marks ranked in the top half of Conference USA so far heading into Friday, coming in at fourth in both shooting percentage allowed (39.1%) and points allowed per game (66.1).

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Takeaways from NMSU basketball’s dominant victory over Samford

Takeaways from NMSU basketball’s win vs Samford: Aggies roll over Bulldogs, remain unbeaten

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