Game Seven
NM State (3-3, 0-2 WAC) vs. California Baptist (8-5, 3-3 WAC)
Friday, Feb. 5 | 7:00 p.m. | Eastwood High School | El Paso, Texas
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | NM State Game Notes | California Baptist Game Notes | Gameday Program
OPENING TIPS
• El Paso, Texas, will serve as the site for a NM State men's basketball conference game for the first time since 1962 when the Aggies play host to WAC adversary California Baptist from Eastwood High School.
• The two-game set between the Aggies and Lancers begins Friday night at 7:00 p.m. with game two set for Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. Friday night's game is presented by Memorial Medical Center while Saturday night's showdown will be presented by Nusenda.
• FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Arizona Plus, the FOX Sports GO app, Comcast New Mexico and the WAC Digital Network will all televise and stream Friday night's game.
• Over the airwaves, longtime NM State play-by-play man and US Bank/NM State Athletics Hall of Famer Jack Nixon will narrate 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.
• Following Friday night's game, Zia Country 99.5 FM will be hosting a call-in show with Nixon where listeners can call in and ask their questions about the game. To get questions in to Nixon, fans are encouraged to call 575-521-0995 or email NMStateAggieTalk@gmail.com following the conclusion of the game.
FAST BREAK POINTS
• On Tuesday, Feb. 1, NM State athletics announced the Aggies' men's and women's basketball teams would be playing their remaining "home" games at Eastwood High School in the city of El Paso, Texas.
• Current New Mexico COVID-Safe Practices for Intercollegiate Sports say college athletic teams may conduct full practices in the state, but no intercollegiate games may take place in the state of New Mexico. With that rule in place, NM State administration were able to work with Ysleta ISD to come to an agreement with Eastwood High School administrators to use the school's newly-renovated gym.
• Tuesday was also a big day for the Aggies in terms of personnel. That day, redshirt freshman guard Marcus Watson gained eligibility for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. The four-star recruit out of Buford, Ga., will likely take part in the first college basketball games of his career this weekend.
• If Watson gets into the game Friday night, it will mark his first appearance in a basketball game since March 8, 2019 - 701 days ago.
• Redshirt junior forward Wilfried Likayi has come on especially strong for the Aggies through the course of their last three games. The product of Portland, Ore., is averaging 14.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Likayi has posted shooting splits of .412/.357/.750 through that three-game span.
• In the Aggies' two-game set at Grand Canyon last weekend to begin WAC play, NM State saw redshirt senior Clayton Henry and redshirt junior Jabari Rice return to action after suffering respective foot injuries in early December. Because of the Aggies' COVID-19 pauses during their time out with injury, Henry and Rice missed just two games each.
• Senior guard Evan Gilyard II dished out six assists while committing just one turnover in the Aggies' two games at Grand Canyon last weekend. As a result, the assist-to-turnover ration of the Chicago, Ill., product sits at 3.00 - the 22nd-best in the nation and the second-highest in the WAC.
• With 10 games remaining on their current WAC schedule, the Aggies sit in last place in the league standings with an 0-2 record in conference action.
• NM State still boasts one of the best scoring defenses in the land, giving up just 62.2 points per game to the opposition. That's the 22nd-best figure in the nation at the moment and the second-best in the WAC.
• The last time the Aggies took part in a conference game in the city of El Paso, Texas, came on January 27, 1962, when NM State (then in the Border Conference) took on league foe UTEP and dropped a 67-51 decision to the Miners.
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA BAPTIST | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Size. Speed. Shooting. Scoring. To break the scouting report of the Lancers down succinctly, that's what the Aggies' WAC foe brings to the table in El Paso this weekend.
• California Baptist's size component comes in the form of Florida grad transfer Gorjok Gak. The 6'11 Australian center comes in averaging 12.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. His rebounding average ranks second in the WAC while his field goal percentage of .618 (68-of-110) is the third-highest in the league.
• When it comes to speed and shooting, that's what the Lancers' backcourt brings to the table. Junior guard Ty Rowell (15.5 ppg) and sophomore guard Reed Nottage (15.2 ppg) are California Baptist's top two scorers and both are lethal from long range. Nottage, the reigning WAC Player of the Week, has drilled 47.9-percent (35-of-73) of his tries from distance while Rowell has hit 40.2-percent (35-of-87) of his attempts from three-point range.
• Tre Armstrong (13.2 ppg, 38.5-percent from three) and Mark Carbone (7.2 ppg, 42.6-percent from three) are another pair of important pieces for the Lancers' back court.
• When you put all that together, the Lancers stand as the best offensive team in the WAC. California Baptist's scoring average of 83.5 points per game is tops in the league as is their free throw percentage (76-percent, 203-of-267), assists average (19.5 per game), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4) and amount of three-pointers per game (10.6).
• California Baptist head coach Rick Croy is one of just three current WAC bench bosses who have a win to their credit against NM State head coach Chris Jans.
• The Lancers head into El Paso hoping to put an end to a seven-game losing skid in non-home games.
LAST TIME OUT vs. CALIFORNIA BAPTIST | rv/—NM State 83 vs. California Baptist 50 | March 5, 2020
• History was made inside the Pan American Center as Trevelin Queen poured in 19 points to lead an evisceration of epic proportions in the Aggies' 83-50 romp over California Baptist on March 5, 2020.
• The win extended NM State's winning streak to 19 games and helped the Aggies put the finishing touches on the first 16-0 run through WAC play in the history of the league.
• NM State became just the third team in the history of the WAC to post an undefeated record in regular season league play. The Aggies joined TCU and Utah as the teams who have done so.
• In all, five Aggies amassed 10 or more points including Queen, Ivan Aurrecoechea (13), Johnny McCants (13), Terrell Brown (11) and C.J. Bobbitt (10).
• The Aggies started the game on a 15-1 run through the first 5:56 and their lead never dipped below 12 points the rest of the way.
• McCants and Queen brought the Aggie fans to their feet in the second half by throwing down dunks on three consecutive NM State possessions. Queen's off-the-backboard slam to himself pushed the Aggies' lead to 41, 76-35, which was their largest of the night.
• Thanks to the win, NM State extended its streak of consecutive WAC regular season wins to 31 games. The Aggies' streak of consecutive triumph against WAC opposition was stretched to 34, too.
• Unbeknownst to the Aggies, this game was the team's last of 2020. Less than one week later, the COVID-19 pandemic canceled all of the NCAA's championship events for the rest of 2019-20.
LAST TIME OUT | NM State 53 at Grand Canyon 65 | Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021
• For the second-straight game redshirt junior Wilfried Likayi made sure the Aggies got off to a strong start by scoring his team's first seven points of the game, but NM State's early edge evaporated quickly and the Aggies dropped a 65-53 decision at Grand Canyon last Saturday night.
• The Lopes took the lead for good with 14:18 remaining in the opening frame and pushed their advantage to as many as 17 points before all was said and done in Phoenix.
• NM State used a barrage of three-pointers to cut its 17-point deficit down to six, 45-39, with 13:53 to go, but back-to-back buckets in the paint by the Lopes put NM State at a double-digit disadvantage once again.
• With the loss, NM State started 0-2 in WAC play for the first time since the 2012-13 season. That year, under the direction of head coach Marvin Menzies, the Aggies went on to win the WAC Tournament and moved on to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Aggies' back-to-back WAC setbacks last weekend marked the first time since the 2017-18 season that NM State has dropped consecutive conference matches. That year, Chris Jans' first in charge of the Aggies, NM State went on to win the WAC regular season title as well as the WAC Tournament.
• With their two losses to Grand Canyon, NM State was swept by a WAC opponent in regular season action for the first time since the 2011-12 season. That year, the Aggies lost twice to Nevada but recovered to win the WAC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
• NM State's 53 points against the Lopes last Saturday night represented its lowest point total in a WAC game since 2017. On February 9 of that year, the Aggies dropped a 72-53 decision at CSU Bakersfield with Paul Weir at the helm of the program.
COMING UP NEXT
• NM State and California Baptist conclude their two-game series Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. from Eastwood High School in El Paso, Texas. FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Arizona, the FOX Sports GO app, 'The CW' in Las Cruces and El Paso, Comcast New Mexico and the WAC Digital Network will all televise and stream the game.
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