Gary Jackson picked a good week to pick up his scoring, tallying a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds as New Mexico State defeated Division 2 Eastern New Mexico 78-44.
The Aggies (3-0) never trailed Saturday night. By halftime they had built a 32-23 lead and started the second half with a 6-1 run. The Greyhounds never got closer than 13 after that.
James Moore led all scorers with 19 for the Aggies. Moore and Jackson put up a combined 10 of the Aggies' first 12 points. But it was Jackson singled out for praise afterward by NMSU coach Lou Henson.
"Gary Jackson was the best player on the floor for us tonight," Henson said. "He played great defense, got some boards and scored points when we needed him to."
Said Jackson: "I was really aggressive tonight. Coach gave me the chance to play, and I did well. I am just happy we got the win."
It was the final tuneup before key matchups with New Mexico at home Dec. 3 and Interstate 10 neighbor UTEP on Dec. 6.
Edmound Elzy led the Greyhounds (2-2) with 11 points and eight boards.
Eastern New Mexico shot poorly, connecting on only 12 of 56 attempts for 21 percent, while the Aggies shot 44 percent. The Aggies outscored the Greyhounds 46-21 in the second half.
"We got our hats handed to us," Greyhound coach Shawn Scanlan said. "I thought we defended well, but our shooting killed us."
Kelsey Crooks had 11 points and 11 rebounds for New Mexico State.
Jamaal Hunnicutt, who has been ENMU's leading scorer this season, was held to 3 of 14 shooting and finished with seven points.
With 13:26 left in the first half, Eastern New Mexico went on a 4-0 run to bring the Greyhounds to within 20-15. Then Detrius Roberson connected on a 3-pointer and Jackson made two free throws, giving the Aggies a 10-point lead.
Eastern New Mexico made 4 of 24 shots in the second half, and the Aggies also won the rebounding war, 50-38.