HONOLULU – With a day off on Christmas Eve after its recent upending of No. 6/7 Miami, the New Mexico State men's basketball team now turns its focus towards the Trojans of USC. Tip-off for Monday's Christmas Day special is slated for 4 p.m. (MT) on ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein on the call and Cory Alexander as the analyst.
 
GET CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the NM State men's basketball team all season on Twitter and Instagram by following @NMStateMBB and on Facebook at FB.com/NMStateMBB.
 
LISTEN UP!
Aggie fans that can't make it to Hawaii for Monday's contest can catch the game by listening to NM State Athletics/US Bank Hall of Famer Jack Nixon on 99.5 Zia Country and affiliate stations on the Aggie Sports Network listed below.
 
Alamogordo      103.7 FM KNMZ
Albuquerque     1150 AM KNMM
Carlsbad           1240 AM KAMQ
El Paso             1380 AM KHEY
Gallup               1230 AM, 94.9 FM KYVA
Las Vegas         107.1 FM KMDS
 
ISLAND MAGIC
New Mexico State fed off the energy from its fans and each other Saturday night inside the Stan Sheriff Center and hung on to its narrow lead for the entire second half and handed No. 6/7 Miami its first loss of the season with the 63-54 victory.
 
The win Saturday was NM State's first against a ranked team since its defeat of then No. 13/15 Nevada at home on Jan. 20, 2007, 80-73. It was also NM State's first win against an Atlantic Coast Conference team since Lou Henson's 1997-98 team took down Virginia in the 34th Rainbow Classic in Honolulu on Dec. 30, 1997.
 
In addition, the win gave NM State its first victory over a top-10 team since the heroic Keith Hill jumper that gave the Aggies the 83-82 victory at home over seventh-ranked UNLV led by the great Jerry Tarkanian. That Aggie team on Jan. 8, 1990, was coach by Neil McCarthy.
 
HISTORY OF OLD
The last time New Mexico State played in the championship game of a tournament was Lou Henson's final season. The Aggies advanced to the BP Top of the World Classic held in Fairbanks, Alaska, to open the 2004-05 season beating Western Michigan in overtime followed by Northwestern before falling to Central Florida.
 
During the 1996-97 campaign, NM State beat Texas Tech and Southern Illinois for a pair of wins at the Cowboy Shootout in Casper, Wyo.
 
Before that, the last time NM State won three games to claim a tournament title was the start of the 1992-93 season when Neil McCarthy's squad defeated Chattanooga, Oregon and Illinois to capture the Great Alaska Shootout championship in Anchorage, Alaska.
 
THE MEN OF TROY
Entering Monday's championships game, USC has won four of its last five games, with its lone loss coming against Princeton in a non-bracketed tournament contest in Los Angeles before departing for Honolulu.
 
Chimezie Metu paces the Men of Troy with 19 points and 8.3 rebounds per game on top a team-best 18 blocks. His .557 shooting clip is also good for the team lead (min. 100 FGA). Bennie Boatwright is one of three other scorers for USC averaging in double-figures, checking in with 14.8 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game.
 
Jordan McLaughlin is the team's floor general, having dished out 93 assists so far on the season to go with his team-leading 26 steals. ­­Elijah Stewart is the final Trojan to averaging in double-digit points. Jonah Matthews, the other starter for USC is nearly averaging in double-figures himself with 9.6 points per game.
 
As a team, USC has scored 81.9 points per game while holding opponents to just 73.1 points per game. The Trojans are also allowing opposing teams to shoot 42.1-percent from the floor.
 
CARDIAC KIDS
After NM State's thrilling 69-68 victory over Davidson in the opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, head coach Chris Jans dubbed his teams the cardiac kids. New Mexico State led by as much as 12 in the opening minutes of the second-half but somehow weathered the 20-2 run by the Wildcats and used an 11-4 surge in the final three minutes of action to secure the win on a put-back dunk from Jemerrio Jones.
 
ANOTHA ONE
Aggie basketball grad transfer Zach Lofton was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the second-consecutive week after guiding the Aggies to the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic. This is the third overall for the St. Paul, Minn., product.
 
Lofton averaged 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals to go with his perfect 8-for-8 night at the line.
 
UP NEXT
The road-swing continues for New Mexico State as it now heads back to the mainland for an 8 p.m. battle against the Anteaters of UC Irvine from the Big West Conference on Thursday, Dec. 28.