New Mexico
New Mexico routs San Diego State, and it’s The Pits
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Remember the San Diego State basketball team that couldn’t rebound?
It’s back.
The Aztecs struggled mightily in that department earlier this season despite a roster with six players at 6-foot-9 or taller, then seemed to solve the issue during the endless stream of practices over the semester break with an endless stream of rebounding drills. And then Saturday at The Pit happened.
New Mexico wasn’t shooting particularly well, but you don’t need to when you attempt 19 more shots than your opponent because you keep rebounding your misses. The result: a 62-48 New Mexico win on national TV that puts the Aztecs 2½ games behind the Lobos (14-3, 6-0) in the Mountain West race.
There’s still a long way to go, and the schedule softens considerably for the Aztecs over the next month. But they won’t compete for the conference title if they can’t play better a mile above sea level or rebound better (or shoot or take care of the ball) at any elevation.
“We had to beat them at their own game,” Lobos coach Richard Pitino said. “We knew we had to defend and rebound to win the game, because offense was going to be hard to come by. That’s what San Diego State has done for so long, and they’ve obviously won a lot of games.
“It wasn’t going to be a masterpiece, and that’s fine. To me, it was a beautiful win.”
And an equally ugly loss.
Last year’s Aztecs team struggled in the six games at 4,500 feet or above, losing five of them.
This edition didn’t look much better, quickly trailing by double digits coming off a pair of impressive wins at lower elevations – 76-68 at Boise State last Saturday and 67-38 at home against Air Force on Wednesday despite trailing by 12 early.
The “OR” (for offensive rebounds) column on the stat sheet told you all you needed to know: 18-3, Lobos.Second-chance points: 14-1, Lobos.
First-half points: 20, the fewest by the Aztecs in 93 games.
Or look at it this way: Both teams shot 35%, but New Mexico had 67 attempts to SDSU’s 48.
“It’s a recipe for a loss on the road,” coach Brian Dutcher said, “which it was.”
The Aztecs (10-4, 3-2) briefly pulled within five points in the opening moments of the second half, then surrendered two offensive boards on the next possession that the Lobos converted into a wide-open corner 3-pointer.
Soon, SDSU was down 20 and that was pretty much that.
As the final seconds ticked off, New Mexico students chanted, “Who’s your daddy?”
“The special thing about basketball is that basketball is just like life,” said Jared Coleman-Jones, who had 10 points and four rebounds. “Some days you don’t have the best day, and today we didn’t have the best day on the glass.
“We’ve got to take that as grown men and we have to get back in the lab. … That’s one thing we’re going to have to emphasize – a lot – for the whole season: the glass, offensively and defensively. Because that wins us games.”
Part of the issue was scheme. If you take one thing away on defense, you expose yourself in other areas and the question becomes whether your opponent can exploit them.
The Aztecs, as they often do, opted to switch all ball screens in an effort to prevent New Mexico point guard Donovan Dent – the front-runner for Mountain West player of the year averaging 19.3 points and 6.9 assists – from turning the corner and getting straight-line drives to the basket. That much worked, at least in the first half, holding Dent to four points.
But that meant an Aztecs guard was now switched onto a Lobos big. And to do that, the guard defends in front to deter the easy post entry and invite the far more difficult over-the-top pass.
The problem: The 6-10, 240-pound Nigerian center now has inside position under the basket for the rebound on a missed shot against your 6-3, 175-pound guard.
New Mexico’s Mustapha Amzil had 11 rebounds. Nelly Junior Joseph and Filip Boronvicanin had nine each. Guard Tru Washington had five. No SDSU player had more than four.
“For the most part, I thought we did a good job taking Dent out of the game in the halfcourt,” Dutcher said. “He’s a dynamic player. But you give and take with some of these defensive game plans. At the end of the day, it’s a team that’s averaging close to 85 points per game. We hold them to 62 in their building and they shoot 36%, but then they get 18 offensive rebounds and second-chance opportunities.”
Second-chance scoring: 14-1, Lobos.
“We did talk about it,” said Pitino, whose team has won seven straight since a Dec. 7 overtime loss against New Mexico State. “They were switching. We felt like that would be an advantage, and our guys really took advantage of it.”
Of course, the Aztecs weren’t much better at the other end, either, in what was statistically their worst offensive performance of the season.
They didn’t make a perimeter shot until 3:43 left in the first half. They had nine first-half turnovers. They shot five air balls. They missed 13 layups. They were 9 of 17 at the line. Miles Byrd had 14 points but needed 13 shots. Fellow starting guards Nick Boyd and BJ Davis were a combined 2 of 14. And when they did miss, they couldn’t chase down the rebound.
“We’re going to miss shots, but we have to get second-chance opportunities,” said Dutcher, whose team had 15 and 24 offensive boards in the previous two games, both wins.
Of their three Saturday, two were “team rebounds” off a foul or out of bounds. They had only one player actually grab an offensive board, and that was by Byrd after Boyd missed a fast-break layup. And then he missed the follow.
The only difference from last year’s 88-70 spanking on national TV at The Pit was that they didn’t blow a 12-point lead.
They led 2-0 and 4-2 this year before the Lobos erupted for a 12-0 run and never really looked back.
It was always going to be big ask, though, taking such a young team (without injured senior guard Reese Waters) into The Pit and mile-high elevation for the first time. Seven members of the nine-man rotation had never experienced the crazed Lobos fans, and four had never played at altitude (and only two had ever played extended minutes above 4,500 feet).
They looked the part: sluggish, discombobulated, out of rhythm, out of sorts.
“You get that first wind, you get that second wind, it’s that third wind that you start feeling it,” said Coleman-Jones, whose previous stops were in the lowlands at Northwestern and Middle Tennessee. “You start feeling the air get a little thin in your lungs. When you try to sprint back, you’ve got a piano on your back.”
Notable
Next up: a pair of home games against Colorado State (Tuesday) and UNLV (Saturday) … The team flew commercial to Albuquerque and, for the first time this season, took a charter flight home given the quick turnaround before Colorado State … Byrd tweaked an ankle with 8:49 to go when he crashed into the courtside advertising boards. He returned but did not score again … Miles Heide played after sitting out Wednesday’s game with the flu but only for seven minutes. Demarshay Johnson Jr., also out Wednesday with the flu, was on the trip but did not suit up …
Dent had a more productive second half thanks to some fast-break baskets and free throws, finishing with 16 points and five assists. The Lobos, though, were only plus-seven points with him on the floor … New Mexico shot only 6 of 28 (21.4%) on 3s … The Lobos also had big advantages in fast-break scoring (13-2), points off turnovers (9-1) and points in the paint (32-20) … After last year’s highly criticized officiating performance from a crew with little or no experience at The Pit, a veteran crew was assigned Saturday: Kelly Pfeiffer, Larry Scirotto and Deldre Carr.
Originally Published:
CHIMAYO, N.M. (KRQE) – A suspect is dead following a shooting involving the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office in Chimayo on Highway 76. Deputies are said to be okay. New Mexico State Police is investigating the shooting.
KRQE News 13 will provide updates as they become available.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — A leader in the New Mexico Republican Party was arrested Wednesday, accused of a deadly hit-and-run in Las Cruces.
Former Treasurer of the Republican Party in New Mexico, Kimberly Ann Skaggs, 54, was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene and tampering with evidence, jail records show.
Police documents show the charges stem from a deadly hit-and-run crash that happened Monday afternoon, which killed 40-year-old bicyclist, Andrew Brown.
Investigators believed Skaggs was involved after an investigation revealed that Skaggs allegedly was driving fast in the area, fled the scene after the crash and then tried to hide the vehicle from authorities.
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The investigation
According to police documents, a witness at the scene of the crash– 850 N. Fairacres Rd.– described seeing a dark blonde-haired woman flee in a black Cadillac Escalade SUV.
Afterwards, investigators said they saw on Flock cameras– A.I. powered license plate readers– a black Cadillac Escalade traveling near the site of the crash minutes before the incident.
READ MORE: Dona Ana County expands Flock license plate cameras as officials cite crime-solving gains
The license plates showed that the vehicle belonged to Skaggs and that, in September 2025, the Las Cruces Police Department had given her a citation for “racing on streets-exhibition driving.”
Investigators stated that a business on Picacho Ave. captured what they alleged was the same black Cadillac Escalade driving fast.
Then, the documents described how investigators tracked down the Escalade using OnStar’s live GPS tracking, discovering the SUV was at a property on the 5000 block of Northwind Road, which investigators said the Dona Ana County Assessors Office confirmed is a property owned by Skaggs.
On Tuesday, at around 6:41 p.m.– over 24 hours after the deadly hit-and-run– investigators executed a search warrant on the property and described finding the black Cadillac Escalade behind a home, under a red metal carport.
Investigators noted damage on the SUV consistent with the crash, highlighting that there was blood splatter near one of the front tires, markings on the front bumper consistent with hitting a bicycle and parts missing, which investigators said were the same parts found at the scene.
Dona Ana County jail records show Skaggs was booked on Wednesday afternoon and remains jailed without a bond.
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About Skaggs
On the official website of the Republican Party of New Mexico, Skaggs was listed as the treasurer before she was removed.
KFOX14/CBS4 has reached out to the Republican Party to learn more and are waiting for a comment regarding the arrest.
Also, according to election statistics, Skaggs ran for State Representative in District 36 in 2022 and 2024, losing both times to Democrat Nathan P. Small.
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SANTA FE, N.M. – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked Attorney General Raúl Torrez to investigate whether any Drug Enforcement Administration agents broke state law when pills reached New Mexico streets.
In a statement, Lujan Grisham said, “make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities.”
The governor also shared a timeline from 2022 to 2025 that she said shows when she asked federal officials for help with New Mexico’s fentanyl crisis and violent crime.
Lujan Grisham said the first request came on June 21, 2022, when she wrote to then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray and asked for 50 additional federal agents.
She said she wrote to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Sept. 15, 2022, asking for more agents, resources and support for New Mexico law enforcement.
Lujan Grisham said she wrote Garland a second time on Aug. 8, 2023, with the same request.
What came next?
About a month later, Lujan Grisham said she sent Garland a third letter and said New Mexico needed more federal law enforcement to curb violent crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
She said her most recent request came on Sept. 4, 2025, when she wrote to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and again asked for additional agents and resources.
The governor’s statement says those requests span several years as she pressed the federal government for more help in New Mexico.
Full statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham:
“I am appalled by reporting this week by the Associated Press and Albuquerque Journal that revealed federal authorities made a deliberate decision to let hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills flood into New Mexico communities, despite knowing that fentanyl is so lethal the White House has designated it a weapon of mass destruction.
Let me say that again: the Drug Enforcement Administration watched as 74,000 fentanyl pills were delivered to a mobile home park in Albuquerque, and they did nothing. And that’s just one transaction. Shockingly, the federal government stood by while monitoring shipments, tallying exact pill counts, and watching as these deadly drugs hit the streets.
There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were. Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway. The result: hundreds of New Mexican parents burying their kids. Hundreds of New Mexican kids growing up without stable parents. All while the federal government stood by.
If the justification for letting these pills flood our communities was that it would somehow make New Mexico safer down the road through bigger eventual busts, the results say otherwise. New Mexico now leads the nation in the increase in overdose deaths for the second straight year, despite deaths dropping nationwide.
Today, I wrote to Attorney General Raúl Torrez and asked him to investigate whether any federal agents broke state law when they allowed lethal drugs to remain on our streets, and to prosecute anyone responsible — regardless of whether they are a federal agent or not.
I have spent years working across two administrations — writing letters, traveling to Washington, meeting directly with President Joe Biden and his cabinet, pushing for accountability, asking for more federal agents to be deployed to New Mexico to help fight this crisis.
- On June 21, 2022, I wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray, imploring the FBI to assign no less than 50 additional agents to New Mexico to stem escalating drug trafficking and violent crime.
- On September 15, 2022, I wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice provide additional federal agents, resources and support to New Mexico law enforcement. We asked the department to match the level of investigative, analytical, and technical resources the FBI had deployed in its Buffalo, NY surge.
- On August 8, 2023, I wrote again to Attorney General Garland, renewing my request that the DOJ expeditiously assign more federal agents to New Mexico.
- On September 7, 2023, I wrote to Attorney General Garland for a third time, reiterating my request once more federal law enforcement support to curb violent crime, drug and human trafficking.
- On September 4, 2025, I wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, once again requesting additional agents and resources.
I have declared the surge of drugs like fentanyl to be a public health emergency. I have deployed the National Guard to both Albuquerque and Española. While my administration was doing everything we could to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into our state, the federal government deliberately allowed it to flood in.
New Mexican lives are not the federal government’s cost of doing business.
I plan to hold the federal government accountable for this disaster and will explore every possible avenue of action against the federal government to right these wrongs.”
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