NM State Returns to Eastwood High School for Two-Game WAC Series with Utah Valley

Thursday 02/18/2021 | By: NM State Athletics Media Relations

Aggies hope to climb up from sixth-place in WAC standings

OPENING TIPS
• Hoping to start its first WAC winning streak of the 2020-21 campaign, the NM State men's basketball team returns to its "home" court at Eastwood High School in El Paso, Texas, for a two-game series with league adversary Utah Valley. Both Friday night's and Saturday night's games are scheduled to tip off at 7:00 p.m. Adam Young and Rus Bradburd will handle play-by-play and analysis responsibilities over the airwaves.
• A multitude of television networks and streaming services are set to carry the two clashes between the Aggies and Wolverines this weekend. Friday night's game will be carried over the airwaves on FOX Sports Arizona Plus, FOX Sports Southwest Plus, FOX Sports College Pacific and Comcast New Mexico. The WAC Digital Network as well as the FOX Sports GO app will also be carrying the game.
• Saturday night's game will be carried over the airwaves on FOX Sports Arizona Plus, FOX Sports Southwest Plus, FOX Sports College Pacific, Comcast New Mexico and The 'CW' Las Cruces/El Paso. The WAC Digital Network as well as the FOX Sports GO app will also be carrying the game.
• Over the airwaves, longtime NM State play-by-play man and US Bank/NM State Athletics Hall of Famer Jack Nixon will narrate all the action from Eastwood High School on Zia Country 99.5 FM in Las Cruces.
• Listeners outside of the Las Cruces area can access Nixon's call on the Aggie Sports Network's affiliate stations which include 103.5 FM KNMZ (Alamogordo), 1150 AM KNMM (Albuquerque), 1240 AM KAMQ (Carlsbad), 1380 AM KHEY (El Paso), 1230 AM, 94.9 FM KYVA (Gallup) and 107.1 FM KMDS (Las Vegas). Fans not in any of those areas can also find his broadcast via the TuneIn app which is available nationwide.

FAST BREAK POINTS
• Heading into this week's series with Utah Valley, the Aggies sit in sixth place in the WAC standings. NM State is a half-game back of fifth-place Seattle U and two games behind fourth-place California Baptist.
• Following his 19-point outing on 6-of-12 shooting last Saturday night at Seattle U, redshirt junior guard Jabari Rice ranks 51st nationally in field goal percentage (.541).
• Senior forward Donnie Tillman will be looking to bounce back after being held without a point in his previous outing. Tillman didn't record a point Saturday night in the Aggies' win at Seattle U, marking the fifth time in his collegiate career he didn't score a point in a game. Prior to Saturday, the last time Tillman was held scoreless came on Feb. 20, 2019, when Washington held the then-Utah sophomore scoreless.
• A 21-point rebounding edge in their most recent game helped the Aggies move up to 23rd nationally and second in the WAC in terms of rebounding margin (+7.4).
• For the third-straight week, NM State will be taking on a team which boasts the reigning WAC Player of the Week. Two weeks ago it was CBU's Reed Nottage, last week in Seattle it was the Redhawks' Darrion Trammell and this week it'll be Utah Valley's formidable forward Fardaws Aimaq.
• Both Evan Gilyard II and senior forward Donnie Tillman are approaching the 1,000-career point mark for their respective college careers. Gilyard II needs 98 points to get to quadruple digits while Tillman is 107 points away from that milestone.
• Since the start of the 2019-20 season, NM State has not had the benefit of a completely full roster complement for a single game. At least one Aggie has sat out in each of NM State's last 40 games due to either injury or NCAA transfer rules. This will continue to be the case for the rest of the 2020-21 season as junior Jason King underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in mid-February.

SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Headlined by one of the most sure-handed guards in the nation as well as the land's top rebounder, Utah Valley head to El Paso, Texas, looking to maintain their second-place spot in the WAC standings.
• Down low, the Wolverines are anchored by redshirt sophomore forward Fardaws Aimaq. Nobody does it better on the glass than the Vancouver, British Columbia, product as he leads the nation with a rebounding average of 15.5 per game. The Wolverines third-leading scorer (15.7 ppg), Aimaq has 12 double-doubles to his credit this year - the third-highest total among all DI players.
• BYU transfer Blaze Nield mans the point in the Wolverines' backcourt and does the dishing out for his team's high-scoring offense alongside a much-improved Trey Woodbury. Nield's sure-handed play is exemplified by his assist-to-turnover of 4.92 which is the second-best in the nation.
• Nield's 3.9 assists per game are the second-best average on the team. It's Woodbury (4.1 assists per game) who leads Utah Valley in that area and is the team's second-best scorer with his 16.7 ppg average.
• After losing their top four scorers from last season, the Wolverines have seen senior guard Jamison Overton rise to the top of their charts in terms of point production. Overton's scoring average of 17.1 per game is the third-highest in the WAC and between he, Woodbury and Aimaq the Wolverines boast three of the top five scorers in the league.
• It's all about efficiency and accuracy for Overton, Aimaq and Woodbury, too. Those three also possess three of the top five field goal percentages among all WAC players with Overton's mark of 54.7-percent leading the team. Aimaq (53.6-percent) and Woodbury (51.1-percent) aren't far behind.
• When it comes to dishing, swishing and rebounding, Utah Valley ranks among the nation's best. The Wolverines sit fourth nationally in assists per game (18.9), 15th in field goal percentage (49.8) and 27th in rebounding margin (+6.8).

LAST TIME OUT | NM State 65, at Seattle U 58 | Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021
• In a physical bout which featured more combined personal fouls (39) than total field goals made (38), NM State received a game-high 19 points from junior guard Jabari Rice to claim a 65-58 victory over Seattle U in the Redhawk Center.
• Senior guard Clayton Henry picked a great time to post his first double-double in an NM State uniform, gong for 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
• Henry's rebounding acumen represented the Aggies' tenacity on the glass well as NM State concluded the game with a 45-24 (+21) edge in that area.
• Johnny McCants finished with 16 points to round out the Aggies' main trio of scorers. McCants did much of his damage from the free throw line where he sank a career-best eight freebies and matched his career-high with 10 attempts from that distance.
• The win represented the Aggies' first true road victory over an NCAA Division I opponent in the 2020-21 season.
• Though he didn't score a point, redshirt sophomore forward Will McNair helped the Aggies win the battle on the glass. McNair matched his career-high by pulling down eight rebounds in the win.
• The Aggies connected on a season-best 12 three-pointers in the win, too, with Rice accounting for four of them. Henry and McCants drained two each while Gerald Doakes, Evan Gilyard II, Wilfried Likayi and Kalen Williams put in one apiece.
• NM State's 21-rebound advantage represented the team's biggest edge on the glass since Feb. 27, 2020, when the Aggies out-rebounded Grand Canyon 48-26 (+22) in Phoenix.
• Defense was also key for the Aggies as they surrendered just 23 first-half point to the Redhawks - the lowest first-half point total by an NM State opponent this year.

LAST TIME OUT vs. UTAH VALLEY | NM State 84, Utah Valley 82 | Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020
• With their unblemished WAC record and 13-game winning streak in danger of becoming a thing of the past, the Aggies watched Jabari Rice bank in a game-winning three-pointer with seconds left on the clock which lifted NM State to an 84-82 win over Utah Valley.
• The long ball by the Houston, Texas, product capped a career day as Rice pumped in a game and career-best 29 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The 29 points scored by Rice represented the highest point total in a game by an NM State player in the 2019-20 season.
• Ivan Aurrecoechea (18), Evan Gilyard II (13) and Johnny McCants (11) also added double-digit point totals, but it was Rice who stole the show with his last-second shot.
• NM State pushed its lead to as high as 10 points, 54-44, with 14:04 remaining in the game, but Utah Valley stormed back to take a one-point lead with six seconds to go.
• The teams shot a combined 32-of-50 (64-percent) from the field in the second half.
• Thanks to the heroics of Rice, NM State head coach Chris Jans registered his 100th victory as an NCAA Division I head coach.
• Jans became the 27th-fastest NCAA Division I head coach in the history of the sport to get to the 100-win mark with Saturday's night's thrilling victory.
• All nine of the remaining living members of the Aggies' 1969-70 Final Four team were in attendance that night. Also at the Pan Am Center were former assistant coaches Rob Evans and Keith Colson as well as Lori Henson - daughter of legendary Aggie coach Lou Henson.

COMING UP NEXT
• For the first time in program history, the Aggies will head to Stephenville, Texas, to tangle with WAC newbie Tarleton State. The two-game set between the Aggies and Texans begins Friday night at 6:00 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym.

++NM State++

Print Friendly Version

Aggies hope to climb up from sixth-place in WAC standings

Related Videos

Related Stories