What: Game Three
Who: NM State (1-1, 0-0 CUSA) at UC Irvine (0-1, 0-0 Big West)
When: Saturday, Nov. 11, 8 p.m. MT
Where: Irvine, Calif. - Bren Events Center (4,984)

THE OPENING TIP        
• The last time out, NM State picked up a bounce-back win over Sul Ross State to earn its first win under the lead of new head coach Jason Hooten.
• Saturday's contest will mark only the third time that Hooten and Turner have squared off with this game being a tie breaker (1-1)

FRESH START            
• Entering the season, NM State is the only program in the country with an entirely new roster as zero players from the 2022-23 campaign will take the floor for the Aggies this season.
• Tasked with building a roster from scratch that is also expected to be competitive immediately, Head Coach Jason Hooten opted to bring in guys with experience as all but one Aggie on this year's roster has played basketball beyond the high school level. This includes 12 individuals with collegiate experience and one with experience in the NBA Global Academy. Of the 13 players that have collegiate experience, eight have experience at the Division I level.

NEW YEAR, NEW LEADER         
• After spending the last 13 seasons as the bench boss at Sam Houston, Jason Hooten takes over an Aggie program in need of a refresh button.
• Many are confident Hooten has what it takes to return the Aggie program back to glory as he begins his tenure after compiling 261 wins, posting a .607 win percentage and helping the Bearkats to six postseason appearances. With the success, Hooten ultimately departed Huntsville, Texas, as the program's all-time winningest coach.
• In his final year with Sam Houston, Hooten helped lead the 'Kats to the program's first-ever appearance in the NIT Tournament. Once the Bearkats reached the national tournament, they made some noise - defeating Santa Clara in the opening round. During last year's historic season with Sam Houston, Hooten also led his Bearkats to upset road wins over a pair of Power Five programs in Oklahoma and Utah. The Aggies will be looking to absorb some of that magic on Monday when they take on their blue blood opponent

ROOM TO GROW         
• In their first season as a member of Conference USA, the Aggies were projected to finish eighth in the nine-team league according to a vote of the conference's nine head coaches.
• This underdog role is new territory for the Aggie program as they become affiliates with CUSA after a run in the Western Athletic Conference that included seven regular season titles and 10 tournament titles during their 18-year stint as a member of the WAC.
• In fact, during the Aggies' 18 years in the WAC, NM State was selected to finish inside the top three of the coaches poll every year except for their inaugural season in which they were also tabbed to finish eighth. During that stretch, the Aggies were labeled preseason favorites nine times.

TOURNAMENT TIME        
• NM State's 10 conference tournament titles since 2006 are the second-most in the nation. Only the WCC's Gonzaga (14) has more. 

BUILDING A FOUNDATION        
• Although, this may be Jason Hooten's first year with the program, the former Sam Houston coach has done his best to surround himself with familiar faces as two staff members and starting center Kaosi Ezeagu from the Bearkats also made the trip from Huntsville to Las Cruces during the offseason.
• Last season, Ezeagu served as a vocal leader on Sam Houston's squad and started all 33 games that he appeared in and paced the Bearkats in blocks with 16 on the season.
• In addition to Ezeagu, Assistant Coach Payne Andrus and Graduate Assistant Terryonte Thomas were also contibutor's to the success of the Bearkat program last season.

POWER FIVE AGGIES        
• The 2023 NM State roster features three Aggies who have spent time on Power Five rosters as Kaosi Ezeagu (Kansas State), Femi Odukale (Pitt) and Davion Bradford (Wake Forest and Kansas State) each played among the best of the best during their collegiate careers.
• Unfortunately for the Aggies, only Kaosi Ezeagu will be available in the season opener as both Odukale and Bradford are awaiting transfer waivers from the NCAA.

SPREADING THE LOVE
Last game vs Sul Ross the Aggies had 5+ players to score in double digits. Jordan Rawls (15), Kaosi Ezeagu (14), Clarence Jackson (13), Jaden Harris (11) and  Keylon Dorsey (10).

KAOSI NEAR DOUBLE-DOUBLE NIGHT    
• Transfer graduate student Kaosi Ezeagu flirted with a double-double and near career night against Sul Ross on Wednesday -  recording 14 points and nine rebounds which is one point shy of his career high in scoring and matched his career high in rebounds. 

FRESHMAN STARTS OFF HOT            
• Fresh,an Keylon Dorsey got off to a quick start in his first minutes with the Aggies. He recorded 10 points and making two three-pointers while only playing 14 minutes versus Sul Ross on Wednesday.

DEFENSE IS THE FOCAL POINT
For the first time since Dec. 18, 2021, the Aggies forced their opponnent to have 20+ turnovers in a game

SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS        
• UC Irvine will take on the Aggies on Saturday in what will be its second game of the season after its loss against San Jose State (64-72) on Tuesday evening.
• Last season, UC Irvine finished the season with a 23-12 overall record and a 15-5 mark against Big West Conference opponents.
• The Anteaters will be led by senior guard DJ Davis who made the 2022-23 All Big West first team while averaging 15 points per game last season.
• UC Irvine is led by Russell Turner who is entering his 14th season as the Anteaters head coach.