Game 16
NM State (8-7, 5-6 WAC) at Dixie State (8-11, 5-8 WAC)
Friday, March 5 | 7:00 p.m. | Burns Arena | St. George, Utah
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | NM State Game Notes | Dixie State Game Notes | Gameday Program
Game 17
NM State at Dixie State
Saturday, March 6 | 7:00 p.m. | Burns Arena | St. George, Utah
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | NM State Game Notes | Dixie State Game Notes | Gameday Program
OPENING TIPS
• With hopes of solidifying a high seed for the upcoming 2021 Hercules Tires Western Athletic Conference Tournament, the NM State men's basketball sets out on a journey to St. George, Utah, to tangle with league - and NCAA Division I - newcomer Dixie State.
• The first two meetings between the two programs in their respective histories are set for Friday and Saturday nights from Burns Arena on Dixie State's campus. Tip-off time is listed at 7:00 p.m. both nights.
• The WAC Digital Network is set to stream the two clashes between the Aggies and Trailblazers on this, the first weekend of March. Devin Dixon will be responsible for play-by-ply and analysis of the showdowns.
• Over the airwaves, longtime NM State play-by-play man and US Bank/NM State Hall of Famer Jack Nixon will be on the from Burns Arena. Locally, Nixon's call can be heard 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), 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
• Now in the final week of the regular season, NM State sits in fourth place in the updated league standings. Depending on what happens throughout the league this weekend, the Aggies will finish in either third, fourth, fifth or sixth place in the final listing headed into next week's WAC Tournament.
• Dating back to 2013, NM State has emerged as the victors in each of their last 13 regular season games played in the month of March.
• NM State head coach Chris Jans is a perfect 5-0 in regular season games during the month of March as the Aggies' bench boss. Against WAC teams in March, Jans is the owner of a perfect 11-0 record and overall he's 11-2 in the month as NM State's head coach.
• Against teams from the state of Utah, Jans is 6-2 (.750) all-time in his tenure as an NCAA Division I head coach.
• Through the last three games, junior guard C.J. Roberts has been playing some of his best basketball in an NM State uniform. The North Richland Hills, Texas, product is averaging 12.7 points per game on shooting splits of .429/.583/1.000 while also going for four rebound and 2.3 assists per game in that span.
• Redshirt freshman guard Marcus Watson has enjoyed his most productive stretch as an Aggie through his last three games. Over that span, the Buford, Ga., product is averaging 8.3 points per game on shooting splits of .429/.455/.00. Additionally, Watson is averaging 3.7 rebounds and 12.6 minutes of action per game through the stretch.
• Senior forward Johnny McCants has put in 10 or more points in each of his last three outings. That's his longest stretch of double-digit scoring games in 2020-21. Through his last five games, McCants is averaging 5.2 rebounds per game which includes an average of 3.4 offensive rebounds per outing.
• Senior guard Evan Gilyard II returned to the Aggies' lineup in their most recent game after missing last Saturday's (Feb. 27) tilt at Tarleton State. NM State's starting lineup consisted of Gilyard II, Kalen Williams, Clayton Henry, Jabari Rice and Johnny McCants which made it the team's seventh different starting five of 2020-21.
• After dishing out five more assists Tuesday against UTRGV, Gilyard II sits just outside the top 50 nationally in assist-to-turnover ration. His figure of 2.52 is the second-best in the WAC as well as the 57th-best among all NCAA Division I men's basketball players.
SCOUTING DIXIE STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• On only one occasion through its first season in the NCAA Division I ranks has Dixie State strung together consecutive league wins. The Trailblazers will look to do such a thing for a second time in 2020-21 when they hit the court against the Aggies at Burns Arena Friday night.
• The inside-outside combo of Cameron Gooden and Hunter Schofield has been the driving force behind most of the Trailblazers' successes this year. Those two top the team's chart in scoring, putting in points at clips of 12.9 per game and 12.5 per game respectively.
• Strong in all areas of play, Gooden ranks third in the WAC in steals per game (1.7) as well as sixth in assists per game (3.2). Rounding out Dixie State's top trio of scorers is Frank Staine who averages 10.4 points per game.
• In the rebounding department, Schofield and Jacob Nicolds lead Dixie State by pulling down 5.8 per outing. Schofield, a preseason All-WAC selection, is the lone Trailblazer who has gone over the 100-rebound mark this year having pulled down 110 in 19 games. He and Gooden are the only two players on the squad who have taken part in all 19 of Dixie State's tilts this year.
LAST TIME OUT | NM State 69, UTRGV 51 | Tuesday, March 2, 2021
• Through the first 9:16 UTRGV had been successful in bottling up the Aggies' offense, allowing NM State to go just 2-of-18 (11.1-percent) from the field. From there the Vaqueros were, uh, not as successful.
• NM State closed the opening stanza on a 26-8 run to take control for good in its 69-51 triumph over UTRGV in the Don Haskins Center Tuesday afternoon.
• Jabari Rice flirted with a double-double, generating game-highs in points (16) and rebounds (eight) to help the Aggies start off the month of March on the right foot.
• Clayton Henry came on especially strong in the second half to help NM State put UTRGV away. The senior scored all 15 of his points through the final 14:13 of regulation and was one of four Aggies who notched 10 or more points in the team's 19th-consecutive triumph over their WAC foes from the Lone Star State.
• C.J. Roberts netted 10 of his 12 points in the first frame and demoralized the Vaqueros by hitting a twisting fall-away three-pointer at the halftime horn to put the Aggies ahead 31-19. Roberts accounted for a season-best six rebounds for the Aggies, too.
• Johnny McCants concluded his day with a 10-point, six-rebound performance with all six of his boards coming on the offensive end. Those six offensive rebounds matched McCants' career high in that department.
• The Aggies got back to their roots on the boards, boasting a 44-32 (+12) edge in that area over UTRGV. NM State was especially frenzied in terms of offensive rebounding, snaring 19 which matched its season-high.
• Though he didn't put in a field goal, Evan Gilyard II passed out a game-high five of the team's 12 assists in the win.
COMING UP NEXT
• The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., is the next stop for the Aggies who will be one of the teams vying for the WAC's automatic NCAA Tournament bid at the 2021 Hercules Tires WAC Tournament. Once this weekend's slate of regular season games concludes, NM State will know exactly what seed it is and who its first-round opponent will be.
++NM State++
