The UNM vs NMSU men's basketball team rivalry is on hold in the wake of a campus shooting this weekend that left a UNM student dead and an NMSU athlete injured.
UNM's Director of Athletics Eddie Nuñez announced Tuesday that the game that would have taken place last weekend is canceled, along with a second game scheduled for early December in Las Cruces.
"We felt at this time, there still needed to be a pause," he said at a press conference at The Pit basketball arena. "This event just recently occurred. There's still a lot of anxiety and concerns in the community."
Two UNM students have been arrested and charged in connection with a shootout on the UNM campus in the early hours of Saturday morning that left UNM student Brandon Travis dead, and hospitalized NMSU athlete Mike Peake hours ahead of the rivalry game.
State police accuse Travis of conspiring with three other UNM students to lure Peake to campus to assault him. The Albuquerque Journal reports the plan was in retaliation for a fight at a Lobos/Aggies football game last month, according to court documents.
UNM President Garnett Stokes wrote to the UNM community Tuesday that disturbing information emerging about the incident, "leaves us with a deep sense of anxiety, uncertainty and sadness."
Nuñez said that as much as it would hurt financially, the athletics department is strongly considering refunding single game tickets. He also spoke about increasing security at games.
