LAS CRUCES, N.M. — South Alabama’s Augustine Rubit became the Sun Belt Conference’s career rebounding leader, but New Mexico State shot 63.5 percent from the field and beat the Jaguars 82-64 in South Alabama’s final non-conference game.
Aggies Start Fast
New Mexico State took a 13-5 lead in the first four minutes and never trailed. Four Aggies scored in double figures, led by Daniel Mullings with a game-high 18 points, and New Mexico State’s five starters combined for 65 points.
The Aggies’ 63.5 percent shooting was the highest by a South Alabama opponent this season. New Mexico State made 68 percent of its shots in the second half.
Mychal Ammons converted a three-point play on South Alabama’s first possession of the second half to cut the deficit to eight. New Mexico State answered by scoring 11 of the next 12 points over a 1:29 span to go ahead by 18. The Jaguars pulled within 10 points three times after that but could get no closer.
Jaguars’ Leaders
Rubit scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds, enough to move him past the previous Sun Belt career record. Antoine Allen added 10 points, and they were the only Jaguars in double figures.
Freshman Aakim Saintil, making the first start of his career, scored nine points, seven of them after halftime, and handed out four assists. South Alabama’s point guards combined for seven assists without a turnover.
The Jaguars committed a season-low six turnovers. They also finished with a season-low 24 rebounds and were outrebounded by 14.
Graves on Rubit and the Defense
“I think it’s an unbelievable individual achievement,” South Alabama head coach Matthew Graves said of Rubit’s record. “To be the leading rebounder in a conference’s history really says something about how great of a rebounder he is.”
Graves said his team started the game “very timid” and let its struggles on offense affect its defense. Rubit went 0-for-3 at the free-throw line.
“Ultimately when you allow a team to shoot 63.5 percent from the field, you’re not going to win those type of games,” Graves said.
“If we’re wanting to win championships, and that’s what we want this program to be about, we’ve got to focus more on the defensive end,” he added. “For the most part this year we’ve done a good job defensively, but tonight was a very bad outing for us.”
Up Next
South Alabama opens Sun Belt play at home Thursday against Western Kentucky. Tipoff at the Mitchell Center is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
