Harris nets season-high 28 points as No. 11 Texans pummel Broncos 93-71 Monday in conference opener

ROSWELL — Jaden Harris led all scorers with a season-high 28 points as No. 11 South Plains pummeled New Mexico Military Institute 93-71 Monday in the conference opener at Cahoon Armory.

The Texans improve to 13-2 on the season and will be on the road Thursday in Big Spring to take on Howard College at 7:30 p.m. The contest will air live on ESPN+.  

"Any time you can win on the road by 20 plus points, you have to celebrate it," South Plains College head coach Hayden Sowers said. "This league comes at you fast, but we are going to enjoy this one tonight and learn from it. We are going to clean up some things, and we have to get back to work and get ready to take on a talented Howard team on Thursday."

Harris finished six of seven from the field, a perfect four-for-four from distance, and was 12 of 17 from the charity stripe. Malek Abdelgowad netted 14 points and snagged six boards as the Texans shot a 59.1 percent clip from the floor and were seven of 14 from the 3-point line.

"We got in the paint early and were able to create shots and get to the free throw line," Harris said. "We were able to create open shots outside and that helped us out tonight. Everybody did their job on defense and tried to play aggressively. We need to keep improving on the little things and keep improving to get where we ultimately want to be."

Ismail Habib poured in 13 points and handed out five assists for South Plains, while Christian Coleman finished with 10 points and Muon Reath tallied three boards, four rebounds and recorded three blocked shots.

"We were able to move the ball and get guys open offensively," Reath said. "We really focused on being locked in on defense, and for the most part everyone did their job tonight. Coach is holding everyone accountable, and we go hard in practice that helps us once we get into a game scenario."