LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State men's basketball team puts its nine-game winning-streak on the line when it welcomes CSU Bakersfield into the Pan American Center this Thursday, Feb. 8, for a 7 p.m. tip-off to kick off the second-half of league play.
 
Adam Young (@youngpbp) will have the call once again for Aggie fans on Thursday while former Aggie basketball assistant Rus Bradburd serves as the analyst on various networks.
 
WHERE TO WATCH
In addition to Saturday's action against the Vaqueros showing on ESPN3, fans can catch the game LIVE on FOX Sports Arizona Plus and FOX College Sports Pacific. Fans can also use the FOX Sports GO or WatchESPN app with paid cable subscription to watch the game on their mobile/tablet device.
 
ALL Times Mountain
FOX Sports Arizona PLUS (LIVE)
DISH: SD: 448 – HD: 9518 | DISH Hopper: 412-36 | DTV: 686
 
FOX College Sports Pacific (LIVE)
DTV: 608 | DISH: 454 | Comcast: 264
 
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 Thursday'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
 
PROMOTIONS
Did you fall in love with the 90s throwback cartoon poster for men's basketball? A limited quantity of shirts are available for purchase at both games this on the NORTH and SOUTH CONCOURSE for $15 (CASH ONLY). The Aggie 6th Man Club will be there when doors open at 6 p.m. with the game tipping off at 7 p.m.!
 
ROUND II BEGINS
Since the last meeting between NM State and CSU Bakersfield, the Runners have been on an upward trajectory, winning three of its last five with losses to UMKC (62-59) and Seattle U (59-55) on the road. CSUB enters the meeting on Thursday 10-13 overall and 3-5 in league play. The Runners have also struggled on the road, winning just 3-of-12 games away from the Icardo Center.
 
As a team, CSU Bakersfield has outscored opponents by 24 points in the first-half but have been outscored in the second-half by 60 points in conference action. The Aggies will also look to sweep the Runners in the regular-season for the first time since doing so in the 2014-15 campaign.
 
Since the start of WAC play, Damiyne Durham leads a pack of players averaging in double-figures with 11.8 points per game through the first-half of league play. Jarkel Joiner is not too far off from Durham in the scoring column with 11.6 points per game with 4.3 boards per game as well. Shon Briggs rounds out the group scorers, averaging 10 points and 6.0 rebounds.
 
Brent Wrapp continues to lead CSUB in the assist column with a team-high 31 in league play and 115 overall on the season. Justin Davis has a pulled down a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game in WAC play while Moataz Aly has swatted away 13 of his 36 blocks in conference action.
 
REBOUNDING VACUUM
Senior Jemerrio Jones has been a nightmare for opposing coaches since he stepped foot on the court in 2014. The 6-5 forward is averaging 12.0 rebounds heading into this week's game and has already hauled in 564 boards since joining the Aggies in 2016 with seven regular-season games remaining – and could have as much as 11 games left to play should NM State run the table at the conference tournament and compete in the NCAA Tournament. If you count his JC numbers, he's totaled 1,163 career rebounds to date – that's with him getting injured his sophomore year at Hill JC after 13 games.
 
He's pulled down double-digit rebounds in 17-of-23 games this year on top of his 14 double-doubles and historic triple-double. Jones is in the top-10 in virtually every rebounding category in the nation despite being undersized compared to the rest of the nation's top rebounders.
 
His triple-double against Eastern New Mexico is just one of 19 to occur this season to date and became just the fourth Aggie to do so.
 
MOVIN' ON UP
The NM State men's basketball team continues to make its ascension in the AP Top-25 Poll, garnering 23 votes on 10 separate ballots in the latest poll release on Feb. 5. The Aggies had just five votes between three voters the previous week.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Despite a slow start, the New Mexico State men's basketball team found its groove late into the first-half before vaulting to a 90-67 victory against UT Rio Grande Valley last Saturday at the Pan American Center. Zach Lofton paced the Aggies with a season-high 34 points and tied a season-high with seven 3-pointers to go with six assists. Meanwhile, Jemerrio Jones recorded his 14th double-double of the year with 10 points and a career-tying 20 rebounds. Jones became the 12th Aggie to record 20-plus rebounds in a single-game and Saturday was the 24th time an Aggie player has hauled in 20-plus boards.
 
UP NEXT
New Mexico State remains at home to complete its four-game homestand as it entertains Grand Canyon for a 7 p.m. showdown on Saturday, Feb. 10, in the third edition of its Pack the Pan Am promotion. In addition, Saturday's contest will broadcast across the Fox Sports family of networks along with ESPN3.