Aggies Too Much for Lopes

Saturday, February 21

GCU Arena

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

16-12, 7-4

New Mexico State

19-10, 11-1

New Mexico State

Grand Canyon

Woolridge had 20 points tonight.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

2/21/2015 9:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

New Mexico State shot 55.1 percent from the floor to pull away with a 72-55 win over Grand Canyon tonight at GCU Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.

GCU falls to 16-12 and 7-4 in the Western Athletic Conference. GCU currently holds a half-game lead over Bakersfield and one-game lead over UMKC for second place in the conference. New Mexico State, with the win, won the WAC regular season title and improved to 19-10, 11-1.

Click here for Michael Potter's postgame interview with assistant coach T.J. Benson.

The Antelopes started the game quickly opening a 16-6 lead just under seven minutes in. From there it was all Aggies as they went on a 24-4 run over the next nine minutes to open a 10-point lead. They would carry a 37-29 lead into the break.

GCU would not get closer than eight in the second half and trailed by as many as 20.

Royce Woolridge was a bright spot on offense for GCU, scoring a season-high 20 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the floor and a perfect 7-for-7 from the line. Joshua Braun scored 10 and has finished with double figures in 14 of his last 18 games.

The Aggies used their size advantage to dominate on the glass, 34-19, leading to a 38-22 points in the paint advantage. The Lopes held a 12-4 lead in that category through the first 12 minutes of the game.

GCU shot 40.4 percent (19-for-47) from the floor tonight, making only 4-of-13 from behind the arc. The squad was 13-for-14 from the charity stripe.

The Lopes will now hit the road for a pair of WAC contests, their final two road games of the regular season, beginning with a 6 p.m. (Arizona time) matchup against Chicago State Thursday night. Fans can listen to the action live by tuning in to KXXT 1010 AM Family Values Radio.

NMSU 72 GCU 55