LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Utah Valley was unable to hold onto its late lead as New Mexico State hit an off-balance three, just before the buzzer, to secure the 84-82 win in the Pan American Center. TJ Washington hit a pair of free throws to give the Wolverines the lead with six seconds to go before the Aggies came down and banked in a three from the left wing, leaving just 0.6 seconds on the clock. UVU was then unable to get a shot off as the Aggies came away with the win.
 
The Wolverines drop to 9-17 on the season and 3-8 in conference play. With the win, New Mexico State improves to a conference-leading 12-0 in WAC play and 21-6 on the year.

Brandon Averette hit a layup to start the game off as both teams went back and forth early with the Aggies pulling ahead 10-8 with 13:21 left in the opening half. Isaiah White hit a three to jump start a 7-0 Wolverine run to take 15-10 lead with 11:39 to go in the first half. After a brief tie, Brandon Morley made a pair of layups to give UVU a 25-21 advantage, before the Aggies used a 14-2 surge to take a 35-27 lead with 2:56 remaining in the half. After both teams exchanged baskets, Casdon Jardine hit a layup just before the buzzer to cut the lead to 40-34 going into the break.
 
After both teams battled back and forth to start the second half, UVU cut the lead to 48-44 on a White dunk with 15:50 to go in the game. The Aggies responded by scoring the next six points to push the lead to double figures, 54-44 with 14:04 remaining. The Wolverines slowly chipped away at the lead until an Emmanuel Olojakpoke jumper sparked a 12-0 run to give UVU its first lead of the second half, 73-69, with 4:09 left in the game. New Mexico State then used a 7-0 run to retake the lead, 76-73, before a Jamison Overton and-one dunk tied the game up with 2:16 remaining.
 
The Aggies hit a pair of free throws and converted a layup to push its lead out to 80-76 with just under two minutes left in the game. White connected on two foul shots and NMSU hit one of two from the charity stripe before Washington stole the ball and made the layup to cut the lead down to 81-80 with 37 seconds left in the game. After the Wolverines forced a turnover, Washington drove the lane and drew the foul to send him to the charity stripe with six seconds left. Washington knocked down both to give the Wolverines an 82-81 lead. The Aggies came down the floor and handed the ball off to Jabari Rice hit stopped and banked in the leaning shot from downtown to give New Mexico State the 84-82 win.

Utah Valley shot 57.7 percent from the floor, knocking down seven triples and 15-18 from the foul line. The Aggies also shot 57.7 percent from the field, converting on 10-20 from deep and 14-21 from the free throw line. The Wolverines limited its turnovers to just nine for the game but were outrebounded 26-22, including 10-6 on the offensive glass, leading to a 13-3 deficit in second-chance points.
 
White led five Wolverines in double figures with his second straight game with over 20 points. White finished with 21 points on 7-12 from the field, 3-6 from downtown, and a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe. Jardine added 14 points, on a pair of threes and 6-8 from the foul line, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Overton chipped in 13 points on 6-8 from the floor and added a pair of steals and Averette scored 13 points to go along with 4 assists. Washington paced the Wolverines with a game-high eight assists to go along with 11 points and a couple of steals.

Utah Valley returns home to take on CSU Bakersfield on Thursday, Feb. 20. Tip is set for 7:00 P.M. MT and will be broadcasted on the WAC Digital Network and ESPN960 AM. The Wolverines then host Grand Canyon on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2:00 P.M. MT. The game will be broadcasted on the WAC Digital Network and ESPN960 AM.