A Great Carpenter Never Blames His Tools
Robert Carpenter Scoring 10 Points in 90-Second Span in Second Half Allows NM State to Pull Away From MTSU, go to 9-10 on Season
Last week, against Robert Carpenter was largely absent from the FIU game. Eight minutes, one made basket. Because we don’t have a newspaper that actually, you know, follows the team and is able to ask the coach nuanced questions like, “Hey, Robert Carpenter, who has been the leading scorer in a few games this season was non-existent against FIU. Why is that?”
Even if Coach Hooten gave a non-answer, at least the question was asked. True fans, and I am not going to call myself a “fan” at the moment, because I am now working to talk about this team, and getting paid for it, would be asking the same thing. They did ask the same thing on Twitter/X last week.
Saturday Night, Robert Carpenter showed why it is important to ask those questions, because after last week’s game and 11 points against WKU in the comeback win on Thursday, Robert Carpenter shined bright on Saturday, scoring 17 points on an efficient 5 for 7 shooting, including ten points in 91 seconds to allow NM State to finally pull away from a depleted, yet feisty MTSU team, 73-63 in front of 4,634 fans at the PAC.
One of my biggest critiques of the Aggies this season, and it happened twice during this game are stretches of offensive futility. MTSU got off to a quick 5-0 lead within the first minute and fifty seconds of the game until Kaosi Ezeagu made a layup to start the scoring.
MTSU, who were six point underdogs according to the lines, were not scared of the Aggies at all. In fact, led by Elias King, their leading scorer, they played NM State tough most of the game, keeping the game from getting out of hand a couple of times.
When the score was 13-7 Aggies at the 13-ish minute mark, Tre Green and Elias King hit threes to tie it up, and Loofe, their big center got a big block shot to throw the Aggies off their offensive game. The Aggies then played some great defense, making the Blue Raiders take some bad shots, and that is saying a lot from a poor shooting team like MTSU. 10-1 run over five minutes in the first half made it 23-14 NM State.
Some timely makes by Brandon Suggs and Ezeagu at the end of the half kept MTSU at bay, with the score 34-26 at the half.
The most noticeable thing about the first half stats, and really the game was that the Aggies had a firm rebounding advantage the whole game, but not one person gobbled up all the boards Dennis Rodman style.
At the 10 minute mark, 3 Aggies had 3 rebounds, with Suggs having eight points and five rebounds and Kaosi Ezeagu having four and four as well.
One quick aside about Ezeagu in the first half, and frankly, the whole game is that he was able to rebound effectively with zero fouls the whole game, meaning he would catch himself when going up for a rebound not to get an over and back call or overextending himself trying to get a rebound and leaving himself susceptible for a reach-in foul.
It was the little things that I noticed that make me want to celebrate his performance today, as we know fouling was a BIG problem for everyone early in the season.
With an eight point halftime lead, it seemed like the Aggies took the Blue Raiders best shot and the second half was going to be more of the same. It didn’t quite work out that way, as MTSU kept it interesting. A 3:41 scoring drought from the 18-minute mark to just after the TV timeout around the 14:30 minute mark when Odukale made a free throw meant MTSU was back in business. 38-37. A Justin Bufford free throw miss kept it from being tied up at that point.
With the score tied at 42 all near the under 12 TV timeout, Christian Cook made a pair of free throws and Femi had a steal and a jam to put the Aggies up 46-42, which lead coach Nick McDevitt to call a full timeout, which was then followed by a full media timeout. So about 5 minutes of no full game action was strategic in a sense to give his team time to calm down and hope the Aggies cooled off. Got to admit, it worked a bit.
Coming off the back-to-back commercial breaks, the Aggies missed four shots in a row, and MTSU capitalized, scoring 7 points to snag the lead. Tre Green hit a three pointer to give the 6-12 Blue Raiders a 53-50 lead with 6:05 to play. Pan Am felt a little deflated as they saw this Aggies team squander a lead and let a lesser team come close. It had Northern New Mexico Vibes like, “We’re better than this team, what the hell?”
(Note: their best point guard blew out his knee early in the season, which is why they have struggled a lot more than they should have this season.)
Rus Bradburd mentions before the three that the Aggies have not been crisp in their decisions in the second half on the TV broadcast. Adam Young mentions Carpenter only played 9 minutes in the game because of foul trouble and that Carpenter is “ice cold because he is on the bench.” I think Robert Carpenter heard him.
Yes, I watch the game a second time before I write about it.
Here’s KTSM’s recap of it. I would chop up my own highlights, but I am lazy on this Sunday :)
53-50 with 5 minutes left, Robert Carpenter asserted his authority on this team, getting a pass from Jordan Rawls and hitting a three-pointer near the top of the key to tie the game up at 53.
Young mentions that Carpenter is “so unpredictable at times” immediately after that shot was made. After a miss by Jared Coleman-Jones, Rawls brings the ball down and finds Robert Carpenter on the corner for another three pointer to make it 56-53 Aggies.
“Two in a Row!” exclaims Young on the broadcast leading to a MTSU timeout. Bradburd mentions, “He wasn’t even warmed up, he’s been sitting for 20 minutes.”
I did see him “Warm Up” on the exercise bike by the training table. I knew he had foul trouble, but I thought he was just trying to work out a cramp or something.
Adam Young mentions how Carpenter helped spur the comeback against WKU on Thursday.
It felt like the whole broadcast became “The Robert Carpenter Hour.”
A questionable non-backcourt call by the referee where Jordan of the Blue Raiders bounced it off his foot, though the refs claimed Jaden Harris of NMSU touched it sent the crowd into a loud frenzy. A pass to Elias King allows him to go uncontested for the jam. Robert Carpenter was in the area, and it seemed like he was not going to challenge King’s shot to avoid fouling out.
Not being on a poster makes it 56-55 NM State with 3:30 left.
Then next possession, the same thing. Jordan Rawls finds Robert Carpenter open for three… HE GOT IT!!! And the foul!!!
“Yes Sir!” says Adam Young
“I’ve never seen anyone like Robert Carpenter. Instant offense at the most unexpected times. He does it when the game is on the line.” Elias King was the one committing the foul. Carpenter makes the FT to make it 60-55 with 3:22 left in the game.
The rest of the game, Carpenter and Ezeagu/Odukale would alternate who was in during the stoppages in play. Carpenter was in there for Aggies offense, and Ezeagu was in there to play defense where Carpenter couldn’t because of the foul trouble. A wise move by Coach Hooten to understand the hot hand could not leave this game in case something happens.
Jordan Rawls makes a three to make it an eight point game.
Aside from a Tre Green three to cut it to five, The Aggies hit most of their free throws and played lights out defense.
The shooting was not there in the second half for the Aggies, hovering in the 30s the whole half, but Carpenter’s amazing stretch, some great passing to find the open man in Rawls to extend the lead to 8 after the 10 point Carpenter stretch allowed the Aggies to pull away and eventually win by 11 points, 73-62.
It should be noted, I predicted the score to be 73-60 in my last column. Someone asked me if I just pull a couple of numbers out of thin air. Nope, I look at trends, and I try to watch as much game action for the opponent as I have time for. MTSU isn’t high scoring, and neither is NM State, but I had no doubt that the Aggies would have an easier time pulling away from MTSU and I was right. I am no savant :)
Aggies go to 9-10 and 3-1 in CUSA. 2-game road trip starts on Thursday in Huntsville where Jason Hooten makes his return as an opposing coach, which should be an emotional game for him, as it should be.
MTSU is now 6-13 and 0-4 at the bottom of CUSA. They play Jax St in Murfreesboro on Thursday
Game Balls
Robert Carpenter - 17 points in 12 minutes (5-7 FG, 3-4 from 3) and 4 Rebounds. Seriously, how can you NOT give this man a game ball? His heat check moment demoralized the Blue Raiders and allowed the Aggies to get out of the second half rut they were in that saw their shooting go in the tank.
Kaosi Ezeagu - 5 points, 7 rebounds in 30 minutes. Why him? Because he didn’t commit any fouls! His defense was much improved and he played with confidence, which is important. Many teammates scored more than him, but aside from Carpenter and Ezeagu, the Aggies were 16-44 shooting, which is not good.
Tre Green (MTSU) - 18 points on 6-8 from threes. That’s all he shot, and he was efficient at it. His timely threes kept it close, and much like NM State, aside from him MTSU was terrible from the floor today.
Key Stat
20 points off of 15 MTSU turnovers. There’s no rule of thumb as to what amount of points you SHOULD get off of turnovers, but the Aggies didn’t let a free opportunity go to waste often today, as every point mattered in a stretch where they were not hitting shots at a high percentage.
Why Did We Win?
Only 14 fouls by NM State. Carpenter had 4 of the 14, which means 10 fouls combined for the eight guys who played aside from him. That means good defense and smart, heady play by the Aggies, who never got themselves in a predicament for cheap fouls off a rebound or off a MTSU Fake-out.
It’s easy to say Robert Carpenter, and we celebrated him plenty already today, but Jordan Rawls assisted 2 of Carpenter’s 3 three pointers. It takes a guy with the vision to see that his man is open and to be able to get it there in order for it to work. Rawls has had some turnover issues on the season, but he is one of the leading assist men in CUSA for a reason.
Not getting distracted by the cold streaks. The Aggies have been known to go radio silent from the field at times, and when you are in one of those moments, it is easy to get inside your own head. Both games this week had moments like that, but it also had the Aggies playing better defense in those moments to keep the game from getting out of hand.
Observations From My Seat
The James Baca effect is in full force. Aside from the Sun-News where as of 11am Sunday, they have absolutely zero on this game on their website, there are others who are live-tweeting and analyzing the games, which makes me happier than before. The more the merrier, I say. I will be here doing what I do, and I will give you more content, so subscribe and support!
On that note, the Sun-News has an EP Times story of Thursday’s game as one of the top stories, which tells you this paper is a 9-5, 5 days a week outfit now, and not the 24-hour news cycle outlet we expect from a newspaper, even in digital/social media times.
The NM State choir performance of The Fugees/Roberta Flack song, “Killing Me Softly” was highly underrated and my favorite part of any halftime this season. I love that song so much, and Lauryn Hill was a high school crush of mine. I am going to have a column about halftime/gameday improvements that can be made to liven up things really soon.
Less students in the student section. Probably as a result of no $1,000 giveaway that day, but overall, the crowds are steady.
Little girl in my row left her winter coat, and I think her parents spaced out on it too. I hope the poor thing got it after we left.
New Scoreboard Video
What Hooten Told Jack Nixon
While we were waiting, Jack said, “I think the Aggies have found their identity.”
“My team played hard tonight. We were flat in the second half. Our guys may have took them for granted The effort was good tonight though.”
“I told our guys when you go for a run and there’s a loose dog, and you’re fixing to get a cornered dog and we are going to get their best shot.”
“It would be nice to have a guy. We got to execute. Our shot selection is not the best Robert carpenter picked up a third foul but i kept him in there because he’s got to learn to play without fouling.”
“You want try to win all your games but if you can win a few on the road we’ll be good. No place I’d rather do it than Thursday night there (at SHSU) We’re going to try to find a way to win a basketball game More meaningful maybe.”
Back with more next week. I will have something about Coach Hooten as he returns to Huntsville and so much more!
Thank You All! :)
James Baca - AGGregator
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Seems like Coach Hooten and staff are doing a very good job putting this team together. The players and coaching staff have accomplished much in a very short time. After last season's disaster I would have never thought possible the turn around would happen so rapidly. Guess a committed coaching staff and strong player buy in can accomplish great things in a short amount of time. I tip my hat to the whole program. Next accomplishment will be winning on the road.