LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After a more than exciting finish to Thursday's buzzer-beating win over Grand Canyon, the New Mexico State men's basketball team will have to cut its celebration short and turn its focus to CSU Bakersfield – who comes to town with a league-leading 3-0 record in Western Athletic Conference play.
 
The Aggies and Runners are scheduled to tip-off Saturday, Jan. 12, at 4 p.m. (MT) in the Pan American Center.
 
WHERE TO WATCH
Aggie fans can catch Saturday's game on the WAC Digital Network as well as over-the-top apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV or Roku Devices.
 
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 Saturday's contest 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

 
MCCANTS CAN!
After last night's heroics, redshirt sophomore Johnny McCants was all over the airwaves and social media. His buzzer-beater from half-court garnered an appearance on the Scott Van Pelt Show segment of SportsCenter while also take the No. 2 slot in #SCTop10.

ICYMI - We made an appearance on the @notthefakeSVP show last night after the heroic buzzer-beater from @mccantsjohnny23!!#AggieUp | #PanAm50 | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/RgbIpPkIHN

— NM State MBB (@NMStateMBB) January 11, 2019

 
TAKING A PEEK AT THE 'RUNNERS
Heading into Saturday's contest, New Mexico State is 15-2 all-time against CSU Bakersfield with the Aggies owning a perfect 8-0 mark at home against CSUB. The two losses came in the title game of the conference tournament in 2016 and then during the regular-season on the road in 2017.
 
Jarkel Joiner leads a quartet of CSUB players in the scoring column with a 12.8 points average to go with his 3.6 rebounding average and .455 shooting clip while Damiyne Durham is not far off with 11.4 points per game off the bench thanks to his team-high 38 triples. Rickey Holden has molded into the floor general for the Runners, averaging 11.0 points and 4.5 assists per game. Lastly, Justin Edler-Davis rounds out the double-digit scorers with 10.0 points per game in addition to his 4.2 rebounding average.
 
Sitting at the top of the WAC leaderboard at 3-0, CSUB has averaged 77.0 points since league play began and have shot 46.2-percent from the floor as a team. The same four scorers occupy the top scorers list for CSUB conference action, but just in a different order and with three players averaging 13.0 points or better.
 
Like Grand Canyon, the Runners have had some trouble on the road with a 3-4 mark when playing away from home. However, those road losses have come at the hands of TCU, Southern California, South Dakota and Gonzaga.
 
LAST TIME OUT
In a wild turn of events, the Aggies went from up 74-71 with 30 seconds remaining to down 75-74 after a pair of steals by Grand Canyon before the hometown kid Johnny McCants drilled a half-court shot for the win as time expired.
 
The thrilling finish to the game came with 3.2 seconds left after GCU's Trey Drechsel missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 that was rebounded by McCants before his half-court heave.
 
New Mexico State was led by Ivan Aurrecoechea's fourth double-double of the season, registering 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting and 11 rebounds. The hero McCants ended with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and five boards while Terrell Brown kept the Aggies in the game all night with his four triples for 15 points. Keyon Jones rounded the list of double-digit scorers out for NM State while AJ Harris added nine points and a season-high seven assists of his own.

HALF-COURT HEAVE FOR THE WIN! 🚨 @NMStateMBB pic.twitter.com/NS8kZvpf1G

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) January 11, 2019

 
UP NEXT
NM State hits the road once again and will first head to the Pacific Northwest for a Thursday, Jan. 17, battle with Seattle U at 8 p.m. (MT) on ESPN+. Mychal Clanton will have the call for that game while Sed Bonner serves as the analyst.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
After a Thursday tilt with the Redhawks, New Mexico State heads to Orem, Utah, for a 7 p.m. (MT) meeting against Utah Valley on Saturday, Jan. 19, on the WAC Digital Network. The Aggies will stay on the road the following week to wrap up their three-game road swing at UT Rio Grande Valley (Jan. 26).