LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The stage is set for the first installment of the Battle of I-10 between New Mexico State and UTEP this Friday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. (MT) inside the Pan American Center. Both the Aggie men's basketball team and Miners walked away with wins on opening-night this past Tuesday at home.
 
GAME DAY PROMOTION
In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Pan American Center being built, the first 5,000 fans in attendance will also get a copy of the original game program from the 1968-69 season.
 
#FLASHBACKFRIDAY
For starting with Friday's Battle of I-10 rivalry game against UTEP, the New Mexico State men's basketball will be wearing throwback jerseys that pay homage to its teams from the past. The throwback jerseys will be auctioned off later in the year. Further details will be forthcoming regarding the auction.
 

GOIN' OLD SCHOOL | BATTLE OF I-10

NM State Basketball will pay homage to the Aggie teams of yesteryear when they suit up in throwback uniforms this Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 PM.

Aggies vs. Miners
Pan American Center
🎟Tickets: 575-646-1420#AggieUp | #PanAm50 pic.twitter.com/3eK2vCjnmS

— NM State MBB (@NMStateMBB) November 8, 2018

GET CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the NM State men's basketball team all season long on Twitter and Instagram by following @NMStateMBB and on Facebook at FB.com/NMStateMBB.
 
LISTEN UP!
Aggie fans that can't make it to Friday's rivalry game can catch the game by listening to NM State Athletics/US Bank Hall of Famer Jack Nixon and former Aggie Justin Hawkins on 99.5 Zia Country and affiliate stations on the Aggie Sports Network listed below or via TuneIn.
 
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
 
NEW LOOK MINERS
UTEP comes to Las Cruces with a new look as well as new coaching staff in 2018-19. Rodney Terry, who came to El Paso from Fresno State took over the reins of the Miner program this past March.
 
New Mexico State leads the all-time series 113-101 when both programs meet for the 215th time on Friday and is 59-42 against UTEP all-time at home. The Aggies have won seven-straight against the Miners dating back to a 71-64 win at home on Dec. 6, 2014. NM State has not lost against UTEP on its home floor since Nov. 30, 2010, when the Aggies dropped a tight 74-72 contest on Lou Henson court. Since that loss, NM State has gone 11-3 against UTEP.
 
The Miners will feature 13 new faces on this year's team with Souley boum, Ountae Campbell, Anthony Tarke, Tydus Verhoeven and Bryson Williams sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules while Deon Stroud will sit out to focus on academics per UTEP game notes.
 
UTEP returns three lettermen from last year's team, including two starters in Evan Gilyard and Paul Thomas. Kobe Magee is the lone non-starter returning that received a letter.
 
Terry picked up his first win as UTEP's head coach opening night this past Tuesday against UT Permian Basin at home, 90-63, despite only leading 38-34 at the break. Gilyard led all players with 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three while Efe Odigie posted 23 points and nine rebounds. Jordan Lathon added six points and 10 boards for the Miners while Kaosi Ezeagu tallied 10 points and nine rebounds. Paul Thomas also added 10 points of his own in 16 minutes of action.
 
As a team, the Miners owned a .529 shooting clip in the game and 48-percent from beyond the arc. The team also assisted on 19 of its 27 made shots Tuesday night against UTPB. UTEP also knocked down 11 triples in its 2018-19 debut at home to go with 25 points from the free-throw line.
 
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Heading into the 2018-19 season, the Aggies are one of 21 basketball programs in the country that have won at least 20 games in the last six seasons. Of those 21, only New Mexico State, Arizona, Boise State, BYU, Gonzaga, Oregon and Saint Mary's hail from the western states.
 
Through games on Wednesday, Nov. 7, New Mexico State is just 1-of-8 schools in the west to have won at least 100 or more games at home since the 2011-12 season. The other seven? Arizona, Gonzaga, Oregon, San Diego State, Saint Mary's, UCLA and Wyoming.
 

Oregon - 118 Kentucky – 117 Saint Mary's (CA) – 116 Arkansas – 113 Louisville – 112 Arizona – 111 Kansas – 110 Syracuse – 110 Indiana – 108

Cincinnati – 107 Virginia – 107 Duke – 106 Maryland – 106 Memphis - 105 Notre Dame – 105 Wichita State – 105 Gonzaga – 104 New Mexico State – 103

UCLA – 103 Baylor – 102 Michigan State – 102 San Diego State – 102 Michigan – 101 Purdue – 100 Stephen F. Austin – 100 Valparaiso – 100 Wyoming – 100

 










STAND UP, SPEAK OUT, BE AN ACTIVE BYSTANDER
The New Mexico State men's basketball team will be wearing green shirts during warm-ups Friday night prior to tipping off against Battle of I-10 rival UTEP in support of the Stand UP, Speak OUT, Be an Active Bystander initiative to promote safety on the campus of New Mexico State University. For more information, students can go to wave.nmsu.edu or visit Room 103 in the Activity Center on campus.
 
The premise of the campaign is to encourage all students, faculty and staff to become familiar with and use active bystander techniques to reduce and eliminate acts of violence on our campus.  Active Bystanders use the three D's to help intervene when safety is being compromised.  The 3 D's are:
 
Direct- Do something yourself
Delegate- Ask someone to help
Distract- Create a diversion
 
The first 1,000 students attending the game with their student ID will receipt a Stand UP, Speak OUT t-shirt. In addition, information on bystander skills and pledges to be an Active Bystander will be distributed in the arena.
 
LAST TIME OUT
New Mexico State overpowered North Dakota State in its home and season-opener this past Tuesday in the Pan American Center as part of The Summit League/WAC, 73-56.
 
The Aggies were led by JoJo Zamora and Terrell Brown, who had 16 points and 13 points – respectively. Zamora also had five rebounds while T. Brown went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Big man transfer Ivan Aurrecoechea chipped in with nine points and four rebounds while Clayton Henry added eight points and seven boards of his own. Eli Chuha also scored three-straight buckets for six points and five rebounds to open his senior campaign.
 
As a team, the Aggies shot 44-percent from the field and was a bucket shy of hitting the 30 field-goals made mark. On the glass, New Mexico State dominated NDSU 47-31 while converting 11 Bison turnovers for 16 points. The Aggies also outscored NDSU 44-16 in the paint.
 
UP NEXT
The Aggies remain at home for its final game of a three-game homestand as NM State entertains West Coast Conference powerhouse Saint Mary's to the Pan American Center for a 7 p.m. (MT) match-up. The Wednesday, Nov. 14, showdown will be the seventh meeting between the Aggies and Gaels.