New Mexico beats Idaho State 81-70 in foul-filled game

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Sam Logwood scored a career-high 20 points, and Tim Williams had 18 points and 11 rebounds to help New Mexico beat Idaho State 81-70 in Friday night's season-opener for both teams.

Ethan Telfair had a triple-double for Idaho State. He finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists to go along with six steals. Robert Jones added 13 points for the Bengals.

It was a game that was chippy throughout, with officials stopping the game once in each half to determine the extent of physical play. Bengals starting guard Gary Chivichyan came flying off the bench during one first-half confrontation to earn an ejection. The teams received four technical fouls as well as a flagrant foul.

Idaho State had 29 personal fouls. New Mexico finished with 20.

''I don't want my guys to back down and (Lobos coach Craig) Neal doesn't want his guys to back down,'' Idaho State coach Bill Evans said. ''We had two teams fighting, trying to win. I don't have a problem with that. I've got a problem with the fact that we escalated it further.''

For Neal, the skirmishes didn't have an impact on the outcome.

''I like how my guys fight and they stand up for one another,'' Neal said. ''They're not going to back down from anybody.''

New Mexico fell behind 24-14 in the first half but pulled to 38-32 at the break. Longwood's layup gave New Mexico their first lead of the second half, 48-46, and the Lobos led the rest of the way.

BIG PICTURE

Finding a point guard was one question for New Mexico this season, but sophomore Jordan Hunter looked just fine in the role, finishing with six points and eight assists, including a couple of well-threaded helpers through traffic and two pinpoint fast break deliveries.

He played well,'' Neal said of Hunter. ''I thought he was pretty good, but I thought the toughest part of his game was having to defend every possession with Telfair. I think that took a little bit out of him on his shooting.''

The Lobos' other big question centered on the health of leading returning scorer Elijah Brown, who skipped both exhibition games as he dealt with a hamstring injury that has lingered since last season. He finished with 14 points and played 29 minutes.

I think it hurt our team,'' Neal said of Brown missing the exhibitions. ''I'm not saying it hurt our team where we got off to a poor start. I just think that continuity, playing together, trying to get back timing wise. I think it had an effect on the team.''

For the Bengals, Coney Island, New York native Telfair, who led the team in scoring last season with 20 points a game to earn Big Sky newcomer of the year, showed that last season was not a fluke. He made three 3-pointers and had nine defensive rebounds.

KEY STATS

With 18 offensive boards, New Mexico had a 20-7 advantage on second-chance points.

New Mexico has won 14 straight season openers.

UP NEXT

New Mexico's 3-game, season-opening home stand continues Monday against Houston Baptist, a prelude to the Lobos' first of two games against New Mexico State.

Idaho State continues a 3-game, season-opening road trip at Utah Valley on Wednesday.