What: Game Seven
Who: NM State (4-2, 0-0 WAC) at Santa Clara (7-2, 0-0 WCC)
When: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 8 p.m. MT
Where: Santa Clara, Calif. - Leavey Center (5,000)

Watch: WCC Network
Listen: Zia Country 99.5 (PxP - Jack Nixon, Analyst - Anita Skipper)
Attend: Online Ticket Sales
Stats: Click Here
Follow: Twitter - @NMStateMBB, Instagram - @NMStateMBB, Facebook - NM State Men's Basketball

THE OPENING TIP                                      
• Following a 42-point drubbing of Division II program Simon Fraser, the Aggies prepare for possibly their biggest road stretch of the season - beginning with a Wednesday night meeting againt Santa Clara.
• The contest against the Broncos will kick off a seven-day stint in which the Aggies will visit three teams inside the top 120 of the NCAA's intial NET rankings.
• The mid-week matchup will mark just the third time in program history and first time since 1980 that the Aggies will stand across from Santa Clara.
 
THE THREE AMIGOS                                                    
• Entering Monday, the backcourt trio of Xavier Pinson, Deshawndre Washington and DaJuan Gordon are the only three Aggies to appear in the starting lineup in each of the Aggies' first six games.
• The three guards hailing from Chicago, Ill., also combine to average 34.1 of the Aggies' 82.5 points per game.
 
WASHINGTON WILL FIND YOU                
• Through the early portion of NM State's young season, Deshawndre Washington has been consistently putting his teammates in a position to do good things.
• The 6-7 Northwest Florida State transfer is currently ranked 17th in the nation in assists per game - dishing out a team-high and WAC-best 5.8 helpers
• A season ago, Washington averaged 4.1 assists per game while leading the Raiders to an NJCAA National Championship.
• Washington has also paced the Aggies in assists in five of their first six games, including a season-high 10-assist outing in the season opener.
 
SECURING THE PERIMETER                    
• After holding the Miners without a made three-pointer in the second half in their last outing, the Aggies continued to lock down the three-point line as Simon Fraser's first made three did not come until the second half.
• Spanning from Wednesday to Monday, Aggie opponents went 45:45 without converting from beyond the arc.
• On the season, NM State is holding opponents to just 26.9% from three-point land.
 
NEW BRAND OF BASKETBALL                
• Under former Head Coach Chris Jans, the Aggies were often seen as a defensive-minded team - limiting teams to an average of 63.5 points while scoring 74.1 points per game.
• Although the sample size is miniscule when compared to the 154 games that the Aggies played under Jans, the Aggies are averaging 82.5 points per game with Greg Heiar at the helm while still holding teams to just 64.3 points per game.
• The Aggies offense also stacks up against some of the best in the country as NM State boasts the 26th highest scoring team in the nation. Additionally, they rank inside the top 50 in three-point percentage (43rd), three-pointers per game (31st), bench points per game (25th) and scoring margin (19th).
• The Aggies are also doing all of this while remaining one of the most efficient teams in the nation - ranking 20th in effective field goal percentage (.573).
 
TAKING A LOOK AT THE NET                  
• The NCAA released their first official NET rankings on Monday, Dec. 5 and the Aggies entered the polls as the 123rd ranked team to stand as the fifth-highest ranked program in the WAC.
• For reference, the Aggies opened last season ranked 101st in the initial NET rankings and climbed to 79th by the conclusion of the season.
 
MAJOR MID-MAJOR                                  
• Including Santa Clara, seven of the Aggies' opponents during the 2022-23 season are featured among the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 rankings, with six of Aggie opponents among the top 25 while the remaining squad received votes to be included in the rankings.
• Of those seven, the Aggies will see three of them during WAC play (Sam Houston, Grand Canyon and Seattle U).
• The Aggies' Wednesday opponent currently sits at No. 22 in the rankings while the team NM State is scheduled to finish the current road trip against, Saint Mary's, is No. 5.
 
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS                       
• Amid his seventh year with the program, 28-year coaching vetern Herb Sendek will lead Santa Clara against the Aggies on Wednesday.
• Sendek's lengthy resume includes 19 postseason appearances and three conference coach of the year awards.
• On the court, the Broncos are led in scoring by Illinois transfer Brandin Podziemski who paces Santa Clara in both points (20.6) and rebounds (9.6) per game. Podziemski serves as one of the most potent scorers the Aggies have run into thus far - shooting 46.7% from the field and 41.5% from long range.
• Carlos Stewart and Carlos Marshall Jr. will also assist Podziemski with lighting up the scoreboard as the pair combine to score 21.6 points per game and serve as the only other Broncos who average 10 or more points per contest.
• Santa Clara currently holds an overall record of 7-2 with its two losses coming at Utah State (96-74) and in the Bahamas against Central Florida (57-50) during the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship.
• The game against the Aggies will represent the second-straight home game for Santa Clara and comes on the front end of a month-long, nine-game homestand as the Broncos are scheduled to be in their home gym during the entire month of December.
• The Aggies have split their only two all-time meetings against the Broncos with their lone win coming in 1978 when the two programs met in Oklahoma City during the All-College Tournament.