Las Cruces, NM -- The New Mexico State Aggies came out shaky, but recovered in the second half to hand Western New Mexico (0-3) a 83-51 loss at the Pan American Center, Monday night in Las Cruces.

The Aggies (1-1) were WNMU's third division I opponent of the season, and like their game last week against UTEP, the Mustangs were good for one half, but the second half got away each night.

The Mustangs managed just 36 percent from the floor against NMSU who hit 50 percent. WNMU also handed the Ags the ball 28 times on turnovers. The bigger Aggies also controlled the glass with a 48-24 advantage.

"We've played well until teams have taken us out of what we want to do," said WNMU Head Coach Mark Coleman. "They really got physical with us in the second half ... we were starting our offense 30 feet from the basket and that's really difficult for us...they're a good basketball team ... they are big and strong and fast ... they're well coached and they are going to win a lot of games," said Coleman.

WNMU now heads to Hawaii for the Hilo Classic. The Mustangs will draw Hawaii Hilo on Friday, before getting Holy Family (Philadelphia) and Metro State on the weekend.