LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State men's basketball team heads down the road for the first of two rivalry meetings in the Battle of I-10 against UTEP on Tuesday, November 12, at 7 p.m. MT inside of the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.
 
LISTEN UP!
Fans who are not able to make it to the Pan Am for the opener can still listen in to the action live on 99.5 FM KXPZ. The radio call of the entire game can also be found on TuneIn with NM State Athletics/US Bank Hall of Famer Jack Nixon handling the call and former Aggie basketball player Justin Hawkins serving as the analyst. The game can also be heard on the 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

 
LIVE STATS
The entire contest between NM State and UTEP has live stats that can be followed all night on the UTEP Sidearm stats page.
 
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.
 
LOOKING AT UTEP
Heading into the rivalry clash, UTEP stands at 1-0 to open the season. The Miners downed New Mexico Highlands, 93-70, in their first game of the year.
 
Efe Odigie led the Miners with 20 points and added six rebounds in 22 minutes of action, while Daryl Edwards (17 points), Bryson Williams (17 points), Souley Boum (15 points) and Eric Vila (11 points) each hit double figures during their UTEP debuts.
 
In the opener, Vila recorded a double-double to start his UTEP career, pulling down 11 rebounds. The forward also came up four assists short of a triple-double – something done only once in UTEP program history.
 
The Miners doled out 15 assists, while making 78.1 percent (25-32) of free throws. The 25 made free throws matched the team's high last season on Dec. 21 against Norfolk State and against UTPB in the season opener. The 93 points for the Miners also surpassed last season's high of 90 in head coach Rodney Terry's UTEP debut. At night's end, UTEP connected on 56.4 percent (31-55) of shots from the field, which topped the teams' 2018-19 high of 52.9 percent.
 
MEETINGS WITH THE MINERS
Tuesday's matchup marks the 218^th meeting between the Aggies and Miners. Overall, NM State leads the all-time series 114-103, but trails UTEP in road games 54-59. Last season's 62-58 win over the Miners marked the ninth consecutive rivalry win for the Crimson & White.
 
The win also made Aggie head coach Chris Jans just one of two head coaches to sweep UTEP in their first two seasons at the helm – joining Lou Henson (1966-68). The last time NM State won nine-straight games against UTEP started on Feb. 1, 1967 and went through Dec. 12, 1970 for 10-straight.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The New Mexico State men's basketball team opened up its 2019-20 campaign inside the Pan American Center versus Western New Mexico on Nov. 5. After scoring the first 16 points of the game, the Aggies never looked back en route to a decisive 92-46 win over the Mustangs at home.
 
NM State entered the contest against Western New Mexico missing three key starters, but that did not seem to hold back the Aggies one bit on opening night. After 2019 WAC Tournament MVP Trevelin Queen put up the first points of the new season, the Aggies then jumped out to a quick 16-0 lead in the first 5:30 of action.
 
Play in the first half continued to be paced by the Aggies who closed out the final seven minutes outscoring the opposition, 23-10, to head into the locker room ahead of the Mustangs 52-16. Play at the half was led by Jabari Rice who had already surpassed his career-high putting up 14 points, followed by Queen who added 10 of his own.
 
At the start of the second half, WNMU looked to have some new life trying to get back into the game scoring two of the first three baskets. However, NM State quickly put an end to that rattling off a 13-2 run to put the home teams lead at 67-23 when a media timeout was called with 12:00 remaining.
 
After the break the sides looked to trade baskets before the Mustangs went on a 7-0 run, which was their largest of the contest. To close out the game just as coach Jans' Aggies were able to do throughout the historic 2018-19 season, the team used its depth with 11 players seeing action that helped the team secure the opening night win over Western New Mexico, 92-46.
 
When the night came to a close five NM State players posted double-digit scoring, led by Rice who put up a personal best 21 points, followed by Queen with 14, William McNair added 11 in his first career game in the Crimson & White, while Shawn Williams also put up 10 points in his first game as an Aggie and Ivan Aurrecoechea added 10 as well. Another first-time scorer for NM State was Las Cruces native Tennessee Owens who scored seven points with the first basket for the hometown player coming from beyond the arc to get him on the board.
 
NM State was 30-of-55 (54.5%) from the field and outrebounded WNMU 40-18. At the line, the Aggies were 23-for-28 (82.1%) and forced 14 turnover, including five steals.
 
NEXT UP
Following the rivalry battle, the New Mexico State men's basketball team returns home to host Southern on Thursday, November 14, at 7 p.m. MT at the Pan American Center.