Phoenix, AZ- The Aggies entered conference play with incredibly high expectations, and put any doubters to sleep after a convincing 84-62 win over Grand Canyon Saturday night at GCU Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NMSU improved to 12-5 on the season and 1-0 in Western Athletic Conference play.
The Aggies scored 84 points on the 'Lopes (6-9, 1-1) on Saturday, without star center Sim Bhullar. Bhullar apparently suffered a minor foot bruise last week vs. South Alabama. "Better to be safe than sorry," was coach Marvin Menzies.
Senior post Renaldo Dixon started in place of Bhullar and went on to score 8 points to go along with 6 rebounds. But the real story of the game was Kevin Aronis. The senior guard scored a career-high 20 points on 6-8 shooting from behind the arc.
Junior DK Eldridge recorded his second consecutive double-double recording 14 points and 10 rebounds. Daniel Mullings had 15 points for the Aggies while Chili Nephawe nearly missed double figures with 9 points, but managed to snag a team-high 11 boards.
Grand Canyon, coached by former Phoenix Suns great Dan Majerle, struggled right out of the gate and quickly found themselves down 45-31 at halftime. Junior Jerome Garrison lit up the Aggies with 25 points, but that was all the 'Lopes had on Saturday. They fell to 1-1 in WAC play after opening up with a victory over Texas-Pan Am on Thursday.
Moving forward, the Aggies will have a home-stand next week vs. Seattle (Thursday) and vs. Idaho (Saturday)
Oh, and just another note... The New Mexico Lobos beat Grand Canyon (in the PIT) by 12 points... NMSU won by 22 points IN Phoenix. Just sayin'.
Player of the Game: Kevin Aronis (20 points, 6-8 3PT shooting)
Next Game: Thursday, January 9th vs Seattle (8-6, 0-1) at the Pan Am
