Cougars Fall to WAC Leader New Mexico State at Home, 78-62

CSU guard Fred Sims, Jr. dribbles past New Mexico State's Matt Taylor during today's WAC contest at the Jones Convocation Center. He finished with 26 points to lead the Green and White.

Box Score

CHICAGO – Chicago State men's basketball concluded its Western Athletic Conference opening weekend here this afternoon by falling to league-leading New Mexico State, 78-62, at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center.

NM State connected on 55 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half while holding off the scoring efforts of sophomore Fred Sims, Jr. (Chicago, Ill./North Lawndale), who scored 20 points in the stanza, to take a 41-32 lead into the halftime break.

The Aggies (15-2, 2-0) continued their scoring barrage in the second half and posted their biggest lead of the game at 75-51 with five and a half minutes remaining before CSU closed out the game with an 11-3 run in the final 3:57 to end the game.

The Green and White went on to hold advantages over NMSU in steals (9-7) and second-chance points (16-8) through 10 offensive rebounds.

Sims, Jr. finished the game with 26 points for his eighth 20-point scoring output of the season and drained all eight of his free throw attempts on the day for the Cougars (4-14, 0-2).

Senior Trayvon Palmer (Milwaukee, Wis./Brown Deer) tallied 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for his WAC-leading eighth double-double this season to go along with a game-leading three steals. Senior Clemmye Owens V (Toledo, Ohio/Rogers) tied a career high by dishing out six assists.

NM State had three players score in double figures for the game with Braxton Huggins leading all scorers with 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and going 5-of-10 from three-point range.

CSU heads west next week for a pair of WAC contests which begins on Thursday, Jan. 12 at Utah Valley with a start time of 8 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Clemmye Owens V: G; 6' 2"; Senior

#15 Trayvon Palmer: G/F; 6' 6"; Senior

#14 Fred Sims, Jr.: G; 6' 4"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#2 Clemmye Owens V
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

#15 Trayvon Palmer
: 6' 6"; Senior
: G/F

#14 Fred Sims, Jr.
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: G

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

#2 Clemmye Owens V

#15 Trayvon Palmer

#14 Fred Sims, Jr.

Players Mentioned

#2 Clemmye Owens V

#15 Trayvon Palmer

#14 Fred Sims, Jr.