Game Twenty-Three
--/rv NM State (19-3, 9-1 WAC) at Dixie State (11-12, 4-6 WAC)
Thursday, Feb. 10 | 7:00 p.m. | St. George, Utah | Burns Arena
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets | NM State Game Notes | Dixie State Game Notes | Program

THE OPENING TIP
• On the cusp of the program's 34th 20-win season, the —/rv NM State men's basketball team is in St. George, Utah hoping to remain atop the WAC standings when it tangles with Dixie State Thursday night inside Burns Arena.
• The third all-time matchup between the Aggies and Trailblazers is set for 7:00 p.m. ESPN+ and the ESPN app will broadcast every second of the action around the nation with Devin Dixon and Mike Olson providing narration.
• Over the airwaves, legendary radio play-by-play man Jack Nixon will set up shop courtside to call the action.
• The play-by-play and analysis of the nation's 14th-longest tenured NCAA Division I men's basketball voice 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 Thursday night's tilt.

LET'S TALK 20
• Thursday night, the Aggies go gunning for win number 20 of the season. Now in his fifth season in charge of NM State, head coach Chris Jans has led the program to the 20-win mark three times (2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20).
• NM State's most recent campaign of 20+ wins came in 2019-20. With their 72-64 victory over Seattle U on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, NM State hit the 20-win mark for the ninth-straight season. That streak was the longest when looking at 20-win seasons in the history of the program.
• NM State has won 20 or more games in a season 33 times in the history of the program.
• Fifth-year head coach Chris Jans became the first coach in NM State history to win 20 or more games in each of his first three seasons in charge with the Aggies' 20+ win 2019-20 campaign.
• Jans is one of just five NM State head coaches who have led the Aggies to multiple 20 win seasons. The full list is below:
Lou Henson | 8
Marvin Menzies | 7
Neil McCarthy | 7
Jerry Hines | 3
Chris Jans | 3
Presley Askew | 1
Ken Hayes | 1

POLL POSITION
• For the first time in 2021-22, NM State has appeared in one of the nation's two main college basketball polls.
• Monday morning, NM State picked up five votes in the latest edition of the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. It marks the team's first appearance in that particular poll since week 18 of the 2017-18 season when the Aggies earned six votes.
• The last time NM State received votes in either the AP Poll of the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll came in 2019-20. In the final edition of the AP Top 25 Poll that year, the Aggies received four of votes, putting them 42nd in the land of the 46 teams.
• That marked the fourth time in 2019-20 that NM State secured votes in the weekly poll. For each of the three weeks prior, NM State received two votes in the poll.
• In 2018-19, NM State appeared in the receiving votes section of the AP Top 25 poll on four occasions - February 25, March 4, March 11 and March 18.
• The final 2019-20 appearance by NM State in the AP Poll in 2019-20 marked the Aggies' 18th appearance in the receiving votes section of the AP Top 25 poll under head coach Chris Jans. In Jans' inaugural season (2017-18) in Las Cruces, the Aggies piled up 66 votes in the February 12 edition of the poll - the most by the team in the 21st century.

FAST BREAK POINTS
• NM State sits alone in first place in the latest edition of the WAC standings. The Aggies are one game ahead of second-place Seattle U and two games on up third-place Sam Houston for the top spot in the league.
• For the second time under head coach Chris Jans and for the third time in the history of the program, NM State has won 19 of its first 22 games to start the season. NM State previously started 19-3 through its first 21 games in 2017-18, 1990-91 and 1938-39.
• Only five other teams in NM State history have put forth a better record than 19-3 through their first 22 games. The Aggies went 20-2 to start the year in 2016-17, 1989-90, 1969-70, 1968-69, and 1937-38.
• NM State's 19 wins are the 13th-most among all NCAA Division I men's basketball teams this season as well as the most by any WAC team.
• NM State has won its last 31 home games against WAC opponents dating back 2017. The Aggies' last loss to a WAC team in the Pan American Center came on Feb. 23, 2017, when they dropped an 84-72 decision to Utah Valley.
• Since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, NM State owns an 86-4 (.956) record in WAC home games. Those four losses came by a combined 34 points (an average of 8.4 per game).
• NM State head coach Chris Jans is 58-10 (.853) in regular-season WAC games as the Aggies' head coach. Included in that record is a perfect 29-0 (1.000) showing against WAC squads inside NM State's home venue of the Pan American Center.
• NM State's .853 winning percentage in WAC regular season games under Jans is the nation's second-best in-conference winning percentage figure since 2017-18. Only Gonzaga's (70-2, .972) is higher.
• Currently the Aggies have two players on their roster - Teddy Allen and Donnie Tillman - who have amassed 1,000 or more points in their respective NCAA Division I careers. A third, though, could do so as early as Thursday. Jabari Rice is 17 points away from becoming the 36th Aggie to join the 1,000-point club. Both Rice and Johnny McCants (969 career points, 31 more until 1,000) are set to join Allen and Tillman in the ranks of 1,000-point scorers.
• With a win at SFA on Saturday, Jan. 22, NM State senior forward Johnny McCants overtook Ian Baker for the highest number of wins in the history the program (111). Baker, who suited up for NM State from 2014-17, amassed 110 wins through the course of his storied Aggie career, but McCants is slowly increasing the number of wins on his resume with 114 to his credit.
• The second half has been a strength of the Aggies all season long. NM State has outscored its foes 927-756 (+171) in the second half - good for an average of 7.8 points per game. NM State has outscored its opponent by 15 or more in the final frame six times this season, too. Only Arizona, Colorado State, Gonzaga, Kentucky and St. Mary's have exceeded those second-half scoring stats put up by the Aggies.

LAST TIME OUT | NM State 79, vs. Seattle U 64 | Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022
• The legend of Teddy Allen continued to grow among NM State faithful and college basketball junkies everywhere as the Aggies' high-scoring guard turned in another sparkling offensive performance, finishing with a 33-point, 11-rebound double-double in his team's 79-64 win over Seattle U last Saturday night inside the Pan American Center.
• It marked the third time in 2021-22 in which Allen amassed 30 or more points in a game. He's the first NM State player with multiple 30+ point outings in a single season since 2017-18. That year, Zach Lofton racked up a trio of 30+ point games.
• Allen's team-leading fourth double-double of the season was complimented by Johnny McCants' first double-double effort of 2021-22. Forty-eight hours before his son - Johnny Lashon McCants III - came into the world, McCants posted 12 points and 12 rebounds to help the Aggies move into sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
• Once the dust had settled inside the Pan American Center, Allen's WAC averages stood at 21.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He's one of just three players across all of NCAA Division I basketball averaging numbers like that or better in conference action.
• Graduate forward Yuat Alok impressed once again in his second-straight start. Alok amassed 11 points and four rebounds and is averaging 10.5 points and three rebounds while shooting 58.8-percent (10-of-17) from the field in his last two outings.
• Jabari Rice entered the game needing 23 more points to get to an even 1,000 in his collegiate career. Though he didn't get there, the Houston, Texas, product made his presence felt elsewhere by passing out a game-high seven assists - one fewer than his career high. Those seven assists were one more than Seattle U recorded as a team.
• Allen and McCants became the second NM State duo to turn in double-doubles in a game this season. Against Grand Canyon back on Saturday, Jan. 29, both Allen and Rice submitted double-double performances.
• One of the Aggies' keys to victory was crashing the glass - especially in the second half. NM State owned a 27-17 (+10) edge in rebounding through the final 20 minutes to wrap things up with a 44-33 (+11) advantage in that
department overall.
• Seattle U shot just 6-of-32 (18.8-percent) from long range. On the year, NM State opponents are firing at a clip of only 29.9-percent which gives the Aggies the 34th-best three-point field goal defense in the nation.

LAST TIME OUT vs. DIXIE STATE | NM State 68, at Dixie State 56 | Saturday, March 6, 2021
• The final regular-season tilt of 2020-21 for the Aggies marked the start of Donnie Tillman's fine stretch of basketball in the month of March. Tillman torched Dixie State for a game-high 22 points on a 7-of-14 shooting clip and NM State claimed the number three seed for the 2021 WAC Tournament by taking down the Trailblazers by a 68-56 tally.
• Johnny McCants added 12 points while Clayton Henry put in 10 for an NM State squad that won its third-straight game.
• With the win, NM State won its 13th-straight regular-season game in the month of March dating back to the 2013 season.
• Head coach Chris Jans pushed his record to 7-0 in regular-season games in the month of March during his tenure as the Aggies' head coach.
• Tillman's 22 points represented the highest point total for an Aggie in the 2020-21 season at the time. He also entered the game with just three three-pointers in 2020-21. In the first half alone, Tillman doubled that total by splashing a trio of long balls.
• McCants was the only NCAA Division I men's basketball player in 2020-21 who have finished a game with 10 or more points, five or more rebounds, five or more assists, five or more steals and three or more blocked shots without committing a single turnover.
• McCants' five steals on the night were a career-best for the Las Cruces, N.M., product and also represented the highest total by an Aggie in a game since Trevelin Queen generated seven in a 104-30 non-conference romp over Northern New Mexico on Dec. 29, 2019.
• NM State moved to 2-0 all-time against Dixie State with the victory.

SCOUTING DIXIE STATE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Now in its second season of transition to the NCAA Division I level, Dixie State has already exceeded its win total from 2019-20 by three. The Trailblazers didn't hit the double-digit mark in terms of wins a season ago, but have done so this season thanks in part to non-conference wins over the likes of in-state rival and future WAC member Southern Utah, Denver and North Dakota.
• Much of Dixie State's success ride on the shoulders of final-year man Hunter Schofield. The Trailblazers' leading scorer, Schofield averages 14.4 points per game and also tops the team's charts in rebounding (6.0 per game) and blocked shots (12, 0.5 per outing).
• Schofield's scoring average adds to a Dixie State offense which ranks third in the WAC, pumping in points at a rate of 75.2 per game. Adding to the Trailblazers' main scoring trio are Cameron Gooden (12.7 ppg) and Dancell Leter (10.0 ppg). It's the latter who tops the teams charts in long-range shooting, putting in three-pointers at an accuracy rate of 38.9-percent (14-of-36).
• With Jon Judkins, the all-time winningest head coach in Utah collegiate basketball history, leading the way, Dixie State excels at finding the open man. The Trailblazers' 16.0 assists per game rank second among all WAC clubs while Gooden (3.7 assists per game) and Brock Gilbert (3.4 assists per game) are the team's two primary facilitators.
• On their home court inside Burns Arena, the Trailblazers own an 8-3 mark and when they meet the Aggies there Thursday night's they'll be trying to put an end to a two-game losing skid. Dixie State is 2-2 this season and 4-8 all-time in WAC games played at its home facility.

THIS DATE IN NM STATE HISTORY
• In 2018 - Chris Jans' first season as the Aggies' bench boss - NM State secured its first WAC win on Feb. 10 in program history by emerging from GCU Arena with a 74-70 triumph.
• NM State is 3-2 on this date in games played in the 21st century. That mark includes a 1-1 mark in WAC contests.
• February 10 is also the date NM State and UTEP began their long-standing rivalry series. That day in 1910, NM State claimed a 32-28 win in the inaugural meeting between the two programs in El Paso, Texas.

COMING UP NEXT
• Saturday afternoon in Orem, Utah, NM State will get its first of two cracks at Utah Valley - and WAC Preseason Player of the Year Fardaws Aimaq. Tip-off at the UCCU Center between the Aggies and Wolverines is set for 2:00 p.m. ESPN+ and the ESPN app will broadcast each and every second of the first meeting between the two clubs since the 2021 WAC Tournament semifinals.

++NM State++