For as long as Paul Weir is New Mexico’s head coach, the Rio-Grande Rivalry between New Mexico and New Mexico St will be one of the most heated rivalries in college basketball. The NMSU Aggies pounded New Mexico 75-56 during Paul Weir’s first trip back to Las Cruces since becoming the New Mexico head coach.
New Mexico performed one of the biggest cuckings in all of college sports by snatching Paul Weir from little brother NMSU. Weir spent a total of 10 seasons with the Aggies, one year as the Aggies’ head coach and nine under Marvin Menzies as an assistant. In his first year as a head coach, Weir led the Aggies to a school record 28 wins that included a nation best 20 game win streak. We rarely see coaches make coaching changes to rival schools, especially in the same state. This gives more reasons for NMSU fans to hate the Lobos.
New Mexico State had many reasons to celebrate Friday night after Zach Lofton’s 28 points and a big second half lead to a 75-56 beatdown over their bitter rival.
The Aggies used a 16-6 run in the final 8 minutes to run away with the game. In addition, the Aggies held the nation’s number one scoring offense to 39 percent shooting. New Mexico scored over 100 points in their first two games over the powerhouses of Northern New Mexico and Omaha. The Aggies were very successful from the free throw stripe, shooting 21-29 from the line and dominating the boards 50-25. The Aggies improved to 2-1 and have shown they will still be a WAC conference contender, even without Weir at the helm.
There was certainly a rowdy atmosphere at the Pan-Am Center on Friday night. Weir walked into a roar of boos when stepping foot into the sold out arena in Las Cruces. Many fans were shouting certain obscenities while the whole crowd called him a sell out. However, the Canadian Weir didn’t seem to mind saying the chants did not get to him during Friday’s game and he thought the fans were terrific:
“I didn’t feel mistreated in any way,” Weir said. “And even if I was, and that’s their right to do it. I thought it was a great game, as far as the fans go. They were really into it, they supported their team. The home team played very well. I have nothing remotely bad to say”
This may be the most Canadian response ever and should make Aggie fans even more furious. This is like the guy who makes out with your girl at club then tries to be friends with you after. I’m not gonna lie, there is nothing more entertaining than butt-hurt NMSU fans on twitter, but they get the last laugh tonight. NMSU and New Mexico aren’t going to be friends anytime soon. Thankfully, the Aggies beat Paul Weir in his return to Pan Am and the world is in order. Expect many huge battles between these two teams in the future.