Rice 3-pointer puts New Mexico St. past Utah Valley 84-82

Feb 16, 2020, 02:25 am

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Jabari Rice had a career-high 29 points, including a 3-pointer in the final second that made the difference, as New Mexico State won its 15th consecutive game, narrowly defeating Utah Valley 84-82 on Saturday.

The Aggies trailed by a point late in the game when Rice got an assist from Evan Gilyard and drained the 3-pointer with a second to play for the winning margin.

Rice hit 4 of 5 from distance and 9 of 11 free throws. He added eight rebounds.

Ivan Aurrecoechea had 18 points for New Mexico State (21-6, 12-0 Western Athletic Conference). Gilyard added 13 points. Johnny McCants had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Isaiah White had 21 points for the Wolverines (9-17, 3-8), whose losing streak reached four games. Casdon Jardine added 14 points. Jamison Overton had 13 points.

The Aggies improve to 2-0 against the Wolverines for the season. New Mexico State defeated Utah Valley 70-56 on Jan. 16. New Mexico State plays Texas Rio Grande Valley at home next Saturday. Utah Valley plays Cal State Bakersfield at home on Thursday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com