New Mexico State Turns Back UC Irvine, 83-71

Any questions or doubts about the work Coach Neil McCarthy has done to revive basketball at New Mexico State are being answered with each passing game.

The Aggies, 7-20 last season and ninth-place finishers in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn., are suddenly contenders.

Saturday night, New Mexico State issued further proof with an 83-71 win over UC Irvine before 1,479 spectators at Crawford Hall.

Gilbert Wilburn tied his career high with 36 points as the Aggies, who have based most of their turnabout on defense, showed they can score points as well as prevent them.

The win left New Mexico State alone in second place in the PCAA at 6-1, 12-4 overall. UCI is 5-3, 9-8.

Under McCarthy, New Mexico State is allowing an average of almost 17 points per game less than it did last season. The Aggies’ disciplined style of play helped them compile a seven-game winning streak that was snapped Thursday night at Las Cruces in a 88-79 loss to Nevada Las Vegas. The improvement has given conference coaches--including UCI’s Bill Mulligan--one more team to worry about.

“We’ve got so many good coaches in the conference now,” Mulligan said. “The guys who weren’t real good are all gone.

“I’d like to have some of those guys back.”

As much as McCarthy has meant to this team, it didn’t take much coaching to turn Wilburn loose against the Anteaters and watch the points pile up. The 6-foot 5-inch senior forward was 12 of 18 from the field and 12 of 14 from the free-throw line.

Said Mulligan: “Wilburn was just magnificent. We tried different guys on him, but the result was the same.”

Tod Murphy had little success guarding Wilburn, and his struggles at the defensive end seemed to carry over on offense. Murphy was 4 of 11 from the field and finished with 16 points, but he missed several shots inside that have been practically automatic for him this season.

“I don’t think Tod had a great game, but I know he feels worse about it than I do,” Mulligan said.

Aggie guard Kenny Travis, after a relatively quiet first half, had 16 second-half points and finished with 20.

But Wilburn, New Mexico State’s leading scorer and rebounder, was the player the Anteaters simply couldn’t stop. He had 16 points by halftime in leading the Aggies to a 32-27 lead. In the second half, his teammates kept getting him the ball and the usual response was either a basket or an Irvine foul.