Game Four | Myrtle Beach Invitational
NM State (3-0) vs. Utah State (2-1)
Friday, Nov. 19 | 10:00 a.m. MT | HTC Center | Conway, S.C.
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets | NM State Game Notes | Utah State Game Notes
Myrtle Beach Invitational Central | Myrtle Beach Invitational Bracket
THE OPENING TIP
• Former Western Athletic Conference (WAC) adversaries meet for the first time in almost a decade when NM State and Utah State duke it out for a spot in the 2021 Myrtle Beach Invitational title bout Friday at 10:00 a.m. MT from the HTC Center in Conway, S.C.
• The first matchup between the Aggies and Aggies since 2013 and the 67th all-time showdown between the similarly-named squads will be televised nationwide on ESPN2 and the ESPN app. Kevin Fitzgerald and Dane Bradshaw will be on the call.
• Over the airwaves, legendary radio play-by-play man Jack Nixon will be stationed courtside to narrate the action.
• Nixon's call can be heard on 99.5 Zia Country FM in Las Cruces, N.M., and nationwide on The Varsity Network app.
• Affiliate stations of the Aggie Sports Network can be tuned in to in Artesia, N.M. (990 AM), Carlsbad, N.M. (1240 AM), Gallup, N.M. (94.9 FM), Alamogordo, N.M. (103.7 FM) and El Paso, Texas (1380 AM). All of those stations will also carry Nixon's commentary of Tuesday night's tilt.
FAST BREAK POINTS
• NM State is off to its first 3-0 start since the 2011-12 season. It's the first time in Chris Jans' tenure as the Aggies head coach that NM State has started a season 3-0.
• Jans' last 3-0 start as a head coach came in 2014-15 when he led Bowling Green to three consecutive victories to start that season.
• The Aggies have had four or more players net double-digit point totals in each of their first three games of the season.
• Donnie Tillman has scored 10 or more points in each of his last eight games dating back to the 2020-21 season.
• Jabari Rice is on a similar streak, having scored 10 or more points in each of his last five games dating back to the 2020-21 campaign.
• Jans is 9-2 (.818) against teams from the state of Utah during his tenure as NM State's head coach.
• Against Mountain West Conference teams, Jans is the owner of a 7-2 (.778) record during his days as the Aggies' bench boss.
• NM State is 21-10 (.677) in neutral site showdowns since Jans took over as the program's head coach ahead of the 2017-18 season.
• Jabari Rice's eight assists against Davidson Thursday afternoon represented the highest assist total by an Aggie since Trevelin Queen passed out eight in a home win over Northern New Mexico (Dec. 29, 2019).
• Teddy Allen's 21-point outing against Davidson Thursday afternoon was the highest point total by an Aggie this season. The last NM State player to put forth a 20+ point outing was Donnie Tillman who racked up 23 points in a WAC Tournament semifinal victory over Utah Valley on March 12, 2021.
LAST TIME OUT vs. UTAH STATE | NM State 69, at Utah State 73 | Feb. 16, 2013
• Nearly a decade ago, NM State never led and despite a strong second-half push by the visiting Aggies, Utah State defended its home court and emerged as a 73-69 victor in what would be the final meeting between the two programs as WAC adversaries.
• Remi Barry registered a team-high 15 points for NM State, helping the Aggies' reserves outscore those of Utah State by a 20-12 margin.
• Jarred Shaw was nearly unstoppable for Utah State, amassing a game-high 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting to go along with a game-high eight rebounds. Those 24 points, as well as 17 more from Spencer Butterfield, snapped NM State's 12-game winning streak and handed the Aggies their first loss of the 2013 calendar year.
• Nine of the game's last 11 points were scored by NM State as the Aggies tried to erase an 11-point deficit in the final 4:06.
• In addition to Barry, three other NM State players finished with double-digit point totals. Daniel Mullings and Terrel de Rouen finished with 11 each while Bandja Sy contributed 12 on 4-of-13 shooting.
• Sim Bhullar flirted with a double-double, finishing with eight points as well as a game-high eight rebounds.
• Though NM State couldn't get the job done, the setback was one of just three the Aggies suffered through their nine games of the season. NM State won the WAC Tournament and advanced to the 2013 NCAA Tournament where they dropped a 64-44 decision to 16th-ranked St. Louis.
• ESPNU carried the most recent clash between the Aggies and Aggies.
LAST TIME OUT | NM State 75, vs. Davidson 64 | Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021
• Facing a 10-point deficit in the first half, NM State battled all the way back to move on to the semifinal round of the 2021 Myrtle Beach Invitational with a 75-64 triumph over Davidson Thursday afternoon.
• Teddy Allen and Jabari Rice combined for 38 of the Aggies' 75 points and both emerged as big-time contributors in the second half. Eleven of Allen's team-high 21 points came in the second half on a 4-of-8 shooting clip while Rice had 14 of his 17 in the deciding frame.
• Allen, Rice and Johnny McCants shot a collective 11-of-19 (.579) from the field in the second half to lead the Aggies back.
• The play of Mike Peake was instrumental to the Aggies' win, too, as he came up with a big-time three-pointer with 2:04 to go which stretched NM State's lead to five points. That three-pointer came after he corralled an offensive rebound. Later, Peake added a defensive rebound and blocked shot to help the Aggies put things away.
• Donnie Tillman added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, giving NM State four or more double-digit scorers for the third-straight game.
• Second-half shooting helped NM State remain in the win column. The Aggies put forth shooting splits of .571/.538/.571 in the final 20 minutes of action.
• Rice added to his stat line by finishing with seven rebounds as well as a game and career-high eight assists.
• NM State moved to 2-0 all-time against Davidson with Thursday afternoon's win. The Aggies also improved to 2-1 against A-10 foes in the Chris Jans coaching era.
SCOUTING UTAH STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• On a quest for their third win over the season, the Aggies have won back-to-back games after suffering a surprising 72-69 setback at home to UC Davis to begin the season.
• The Aggies followed up that loss by handling A-10 power Richmond in the Veterans Classic in Annapolis, Md., last Friday (Nov. 12). Justin Bean put on a heck of a show in that 85-74 win, finishing with 30 points and 13 rebounds.
• Speaking of Bean, all the Oklahoman has done so far this season is distinguish himself as one of the best players in the nation. He's averaging 26.3 points and 14.0 rebounds per game while putting up impressive shooting splits of .644/.600/.833. Bean has been responsible for 32.8-percent of the Aggies' total offensive output this season.
• Joining Bean in wreaking havoc on frontcourt defenses is Brandon Horvath. His 17.0 points per game is second on the squad behind Bean and he came back strong after turning an ankle in the Aggies' double-overtime victory over Penn to begin their run at the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
• Rylan Jones mans the point for Utah State, dishing out assists at a rate of 5.3 per game. Jones' scoring average of 13 points per game puts him third on the team.
• In his first season at the helm in Ogden, Utah, Ryan Odom became a household name when he led 16th-seeded UMBC to a monumental 74-54 upset of number-one seed Virginia in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
COMING UP NEXT
• There are two options for the Aggies following Friday's showdown with Utah State. Either NM State will advance to the Myrtle Beach Invitational championship game at 1:00 p.m. MT Sunday afternoon, or NM State will take part in the invitational's third-place contest which is schedule to tip off at 4:00 p.m. MT or 6:30 p.m. MT Sunday.
++NM State++
