Isiah Harwell Scores 22 as No. 15 Gonzaga Beats New Mexico State 109-68

Kicker: NCAA (men's college)

Photo: The Dyme

Isiah Harwell scored 22 points as No. 15 Gonzaga beat New Mexico State 109-68 on Saturday at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane. Harwell shot 8-of-10 from the field, 4-of-6 from three and 2-of-4 at the line in 30 minutes, with five rebounds, three steals and one turnover, per the ESPN box score. Attendance was 6,000. Gonzaga moved to 2-0 (1-0 at home). New Mexico State fell to 1-1 (0-1 on the road).

Davis Fogle also scored 22, on 8-of-13 shooting, 3-of-6 from three and 3-of-4 at the line in 33 minutes, with four rebounds, six assists and two steals. Braden Huff scored 20 on 9-of-13 from the field and 2-of-3 at the line in 25 minutes. Javon Bennett scored 13 off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting and 2-of-3 from three, with two assists and two steals in 18 minutes. Massamba Diop scored 12 on 5-of-8 with seven rebounds in 33 minutes. Xaivian Lee scored six with 10 assists on 1-of-5 shooting in 28 minutes. Five Bulldogs reached double figures, by our count from the ESPN player box.

Mark Lavrenov led New Mexico State with 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting and 9-of-10 at the line in 35 minutes, with four rebounds. Jae'Coby Osborne scored 10 on 4-of-5 with five rebounds in 34 minutes. DJ Dudley scored 10 on 3-of-8 and 2-of-4 from three, with three turnovers in 24 minutes. Jermaine Washington scored eight off the bench. KK Robinson scored seven on 4-of-4 at the line, with five turnovers in 15 minutes. Adrame Diongue scored six with five rebounds. Gabe Pickens scored four with five assists. Three Aggies reached double figures, by our count.

Gonzaga held the No. 15 spot in the Associated Press Top 25, per the NCAA.com AP poll and ESPN's game ranking. New Mexico State was unranked.

Led 47-42 at the half, then a 62-26 second half

Gabe Pickens opened the scoring with a driving layup at 18:56 of the first half for a 2-0 New Mexico State lead, per the ESPN play-by-play. Harwell's free throw at 18:49 put Gonzaga on the board. Leopold Levillain's layup, assisted by Pickens, at 18:32 made it 4-1, and Mark Lavrenov's driving layup at 17:59 made it 6-3. Both matched ESPN's listed largest New Mexico State lead of three, by our count.

Harwell's 23-foot three, assisted by Fogle, tied the game at 6-6 at 17:22. Diop's 24-foot three, assisted by Lee, at 16:50 put Gonzaga ahead 9-6, the only lead change of the game, per ESPN. Huff's 6-foot turnaround at 15:56 finished an 8-0 run to 11-6, by our count. After Washington's 12-foot step-back made it 11-8, Gonzaga scored eight more in a row, by our count, on two Lee free throws and back-to-back Fogle threes. The second, a 24-footer assisted by Nathan De Sousa at 13:55, made it 19-8, Gonzaga's first 10-plus-point lead.

New Mexico State answered with 13 of the next 16 points, by our count from the play-by-play. KK Robinson hit a 24-foot three at 13:32, Dudley and Washington scored driving layups, and Washington added a free throw at 11:59 for 21-16. Dudley's 24-foot three, assisted by Pickens, at 9:59 cut the lead to 22-21. That was the closest the Aggies got after the 6-6 tie, by our count.

Fogle's 22-foot three, assisted by Lee, at 7:11 made it 32-25. Lee's 22-foot three, assisted by Fogle, at 5:46 and Fogle's alley-oop dunk off a Lee pass at 5:05 pushed the lead to 37-27. Robinson made four straight free throws at 4:53 and 4:28, and layups by Lavrenov and Osborne brought New Mexico State within 39-35 at 3:04. Dudley's 23-foot three at 1:14 made it 42-40. Bennett's 25-foot three, assisted by Lee, at 0:47 and his 16-foot step-back at 0:04 closed the half at 47-42, per ESPN linescores.

Fogle scored 16 first-half points on 6-of-10 shooting, 3-of-6 from three and 1-of-2 at the line, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play. Harwell scored six in the first half on 2-of-3 and 16 in the second on 6-of-7 from the field, 3-of-4 from three and 1-of-2 at the line, by our count.

Bennett's basket at 0:04 started a 10-0 run that crossed halftime, by our count. Harwell's 22-foot three, assisted by Lee, at 19:43 made it 50-42. Huff's layup at 19:16, Diop's 8-foot jumper at 18:17 and a Harwell free throw at 17:43 made it 55-42. Osborne's 9-foot step-back at 17:03 ended the run. Harwell's 25-foot three, assisted by Fogle, at 13:48 made it 66-52.

Huff scored 13 second-half points on 6-of-7 from the field, by our count, most on layups. After Dudley's two free throws at 9:34 made it 77-62, Gonzaga scored 18 unanswered points to 95-62, by our count from the play-by-play. Fogle's driving layup, assisted by Lee, opened the run at 9:27. Harwell's dunk at 7:44 made it 83-62, Gonzaga's first 20-plus-point lead. Harwell's layup at 5:33 made it 93-62, the first 30-plus-point lead. Harwell scored nine of the 18 in that run on a dunk, two layups and a 23-foot three, by our count. Diop's alley-oop dunk, assisted by Bennett, at 5:15 finished it. Lavrenov's two free throws at 5:01 ended the run at 95-64.

Bennett’s 22-foot three at 4:50 made it 98-64. Luca Foster’s 24-foot three, assisted by De Sousa, at 4:19 made it 101-64. Juwan Ekanga's 22-foot three, assisted by Bennett, at 2:58 made it 105-68. Foster’s 11-foot jumper at 0:26 set the 109-68 final.

Gonzaga outscored New Mexico State 62-26 after halftime, per the ESPN linescores (Gonzaga 47-62, New Mexico State 42-26). The final margin was 41 points, by our count (109-68). ESPN listed Gonzaga leading for 92% of the game and New Mexico State for 4%.

61% shooting, 13 threes and 36 points off turnovers

Gonzaga shot 38-of-62 from the field (61%), 13-of-24 from three (54%) and 20-of-29 at the line (69%), per ESPN. New Mexico State shot 21-of-48 (44%), 4-of-14 from three (29%) and 22-of-24 at the line (92%). The Bulldogs outrebounded the Aggies 30-26, including an 11-9 edge on the offensive glass and a 19-17 edge on the defensive glass. Assists went 23-6. Turnovers went 6-19. Steals went 10-3. Blocks went 3-1.

Gonzaga scored 36 points off turnovers to New Mexico State's 5, per ESPN. Fast-break points went 20-4. Points in the paint went 42-34. Personal fouls went 19-18. Lee's 10 assists led the game. Harwell's three steals led Gonzaga.

New Mexico State shot 15-of-27 (56%) in the first half and 6-of-21 (29%) in the second, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play. Gonzaga shot 17-of-28 (61%) before halftime and 21-of-34 (62%) after it. The Aggies committed seven turnovers in the first half and 12 in the second, by our count. They scored 13 of their 26 second-half points at the line, on 13-of-15.

Gonzaga made 25 two-pointers for 50 points; New Mexico State made 17 for 34, by our count from the ESPN team box. The Bulldogs scored 39 points on threes to New Mexico State's 12. New Mexico State scored 22 at the line to Gonzaga's 20. That splits the 41-point margin into 16 on two-pointers and 27 on threes, minus two at the line, by our count.

The box score, side by side

Full-game team numbers, per the ESPN box and checked against the CBS Sports gametracker box for New Mexico State at Gonzaga:

Category	Gonzaga	New Mexico State
Field goals	38-62 (61%)	21-48 (44%)
3-pointers	13-24 (54%)	4-14 (29%)
Free throws	20-29 (69%)	22-24 (92%)
Rebounds	30	26
Offensive rebounds	11	9
Defensive rebounds	19	17
Assists	23	6
Turnovers	6	19
Steals	10	3
Blocks	3	1
Points in the paint	42	34
Points off turnovers	36	5
Fast-break points	20	4
Largest lead	41	3
Percent of game led	92%	4%
Lead changes	1	1
Personal fouls	19	18

Half scoring, per the ESPN linescores:

Half	Gonzaga	New Mexico State
1	47	42
2	62	26
Final	109	68

Five Gonzaga scorers reached double figures (22, 22, 20, 13, 12). Three New Mexico State scorers reached double figures (19, 10, 10). Harwell, Fogle and Huff combined for 64 of Gonzaga's 109 on 25-of-36 shooting, by our count.

What the box leaves next

Gonzaga maintained its shooting efficiency across both halves: 17-of-28 before halftime and 21-of-34 afterward. New Mexico State dropped from 15-of-27 to 6-of-21, and its turnovers increased from seven to 12, by our count from ESPN’s play-by-play. Half of the Aggies’ 26 second-half points came at the foul line. Harwell supplied nine points during Gonzaga’s decisive 18-0 run, which expanded a 15-point advantage to 33. The Bulldogs host LSU on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Spokane Numerica Veterans Arena, per the ESPN schedule, with the tip listed at 3:30 p.m. ET. Gonzaga beat Purdue 78-72 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in its previous game. New Mexico State is 1-1.

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Sources:

• ESPN: New Mexico State vs. Gonzaga box score
• ESPN: New Mexico State vs. Gonzaga play-by-play
• ESPN: New Mexico State vs. Gonzaga game page
• CBS Sports: New Mexico State at Gonzaga gametracker box score
• NCAA.com: AP Top 25 men's basketball poll
• Gonzaga Athletics: Isiah Harwell roster page
• ESPN: LSU at Gonzaga schedule listing (event 401921689)