LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Rivalry week continues for the NM State basketball team as it heads down the road for a 7 p.m. tip-off against Battle of I-10 rival UTEP on Tuesday, Dec. 13, in the Don Haskins Center.
 
WHERE TO WATCH
Fans can watch Tuesday's Battle of I-10 rivalry game via live-stream through the UTEP athletic department website with a paid subscription by clicking here.
 
GET CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the NM State men's basketball team all season on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by following @AggieArmy.
 
LISTEN UP!
Aggie fans that can't make it to the game can listen to NM State Athletics/US Bank Hall of Famer Jack Nixon Saturday night on 99.5 Zia Country and affiliate stations. Fans can also listen to the game live with their mobile or tablet device on the TuneIn app for free. The game will be available on following affiliate stations as well:
 
Alamogordo      103.7 FM KNMZ
Albuquerque     101.7 FM KQTM
Carlsbad           1240 AM KAMQ
Gallup               1230 AM, 94.9 FM KYVA
Las Vegas         107.1 FM KMDS
 
BAKER NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State senior point guard Ian Baker was just named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday, Dec. 12. Baker willed the Aggies to a huge 84-71 win over in-state rival New Mexico this past Saturday with a game-high 26 points.
 
This is the first weekly honor for both Baker and NM State this season after the Washington, D.C., native tied his career-high in points (26) on 8-of-16 shooting, including 6-of-7 from the line, against UNM. The win on Saturday snapped a five-game skid against the Lobos and gave NM State its first victory over New Mexico at home in nine years.
 
Baker helped NM State get out to an explosive start to the game with 13 first-half points as the Aggies headed into the locker room with a 43-26 lead at the break behind a 17-2 run. He poured in another 13 points in the second stanza and finished with four steals, three assists and three rebounds.
 
BAKER NEARS 1,000 POINT CLUB
Aggie floor general Ian Baker currently sits at 986 career points as he prepares to suit up for his 97th-career game in the Crimson & White. Baker, a Washington, D.C., product will become the 34th player to join the 1,000 point club in program history when he reaches that plateau. He will be the fourth Aggie in the last three seasons to join the 1,000. Other players that recently joined the 1,000 point club include Pascal Siakam (1,126, 2014-16), Tshilidzi Nephawe (1,087, 2011-15) and Daniel Mullings (1,677, 2012-15).
 
RPI CHECK
After debuting at 94 in the first RPI ranking by the NCAA on Dec. 6, NM State is now sitting at No. 67, good for the highest amongst Western Athletic Conference teams through games on Dec. 11. Utah Valley, who debuted at No. 88 to lead the WAC, is now sitting at No. 138.
 
PROTECT THIS HOUSE
With a win last Saturday over in-state rival New Mexico, NM State extended its home winning-streak to 16 dating back to last season. The Aggies have their first seven games of the 2016 campaign at home, passing the 2008-09 team and will now be chasing the 2006-07 team that won 15-consecutive games at home – which also included an 80-73 win over No. 13/15 Nevada team.
 
ENTERING MINER TERRITORY
Tuesday's match-up against UTEP will be the 210th meeting between the two programs as NM State leads the all-time series record 109-101. The Aggies are riding a three-game winning streak against the Miners have won six of the last seven meetings, including the season sweep last season.
 
UTEP enters the game 2-5 on the year with wins over Louisiana College (88-54) to start the year and Western Michigan (85-75) in the Gildan Charleston Classic. The Miners recently lost in Albuquerque to New Mexico on a last second shot 78-77 for their fourth-straight loss.
 
Omega Harris leads all scorers for UTEP, averaging 16.7 points while transfer Dominic Artis sits in second with 15.3 points per game. Matt Willms rounds out the list of double-digit scorers for UTEP while Terry Winn is just shy of that list with 9.7 points per game.
 
Artis, a 6-3 guard, paces the Miners with 6.7 boards per game and 7.9 assists per game on top of a team-best 18 steals. The Oregon transfer dished out a team-high 170 assists last season, good for 10th-most in a single-season at UTEP.
 
Thomas Paul is second on the team in rebounds with 6.1 per game while starting in 5-of-7 games this season to go with his 4.0 points per game. Winn, last year's leading rebounder, is third on the team, averaging 5.7 boards but has only played in three games due to injury.
 
The Miners have four players with 10-plus 3-pointers on the year and is led by Deon Barrett, who has hit 13-of-23 so far. Willms paces the team with a .608 shooting clip in seven games.
 
The last time these two squared off in the Don Haskins Center, then-junior Ian Baker, dropped a career-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting – six of which came from deep. Jalyn Pennie added 14 points and eight boards while Pascal Siakam posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Matt Taylor nearly had a double-double himself, tallying nine points and eight assists.
 
CHASING HISTORY
Weir joined his predecessor, Marvin Menzies, on the list of first-year head coaches who defeated UNM at home in their first year. With UTEP on tap, Weir looks to join Ken Hayes (1975-76), Lou Henson (1966-67), John Gunn (1947-48), T.R. Coffman (1927-28) and Robert Brown (1922-23). Kayes and Henson are the only two to go undefeated (2-0) in their first year at the helm against the Miners while Gunn and Coffman played four games against UTEP. Brown was the only coach before the modern era to play the Miners twice.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Behind a season-high 26 points from Ian Baker and double-doubles from Eli Chuha and Jemerrio Jones, the NM State men's basketball team defeated Battle of I-25 rival New Mexico 84-71 inside a raucous Pan American Center on Lou Henson night.
 
The win also gave NM State its first victory over UNM at home since Dec. 4, 2007, and snapped five-game skid against the Lobos. Chuha and Jones came through for NM State in the second half, hauling in 15 of the 20 Aggie rebounds. Chuha wound up with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds while Jones picked up his second double-double in as many games with 15 points and 10 boards. Huggins finished with 14-points and four boards on 4-of-8 shooting from downtown.
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies now swing the other direction and fly to Tempe, Ariz., for a battle with former Border Conference foe Arizona State on Saturday, Dec. 17, for a 6 p.m. (MT) tip on the Pac-12 Networks (Arizona).