What: Game One
Who: NM State (0-0, 0-0 CUSA) at No. 16 Kentucky (0-0, 0-0 CUSA)
When: Monday, Nov. 6, 6 p.m. MT
Where: Lexington, Ky. - Rupp Arena (20,545)

THE OPENING TIP                              
• A new era of Aggie basketball begins on Nov. 6, 2023, when the Aggies travel to the old stomping ground of Adolph Rupp to take on No. 16 Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.
• Monday's contest versus will mark the first for the Aggies with newly appointed head coach, Jason Hooten at the helm. The meeting between the two sides will also be just the second time in history that the two share a court as they also collided in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
 
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.
 
FIRST THINGS FIRST                          
• Heading into their season opener against New Mexico Highlands on Monday, Nov. 7, the Aggies have put up a 72-42-1 (.630) all-time mark in season openers.
• Dating back to the 2015-16 season, NM State has emerged as the victor in each of its last seven season openers. Over the last decade, the Aggies have gone 7-3 (.700) in their first game to begin a season.
• The last time the Aggies fell in a season opener was on Nov. 14, 2014, when No. 11 Wichita State bested the Aggies, 71-54.
 
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.
 
THIS DAY IN NM STATE HISTORY      
• Monday will mark just the second time in program history that NM State will compete in a game on Nov. 6.
• Prior to Monday, the Aggies had only ever played on this date in 2018 when they hosted North Dakota State and defeated the Bison 73-56.
 
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.
 
BEATING THE BEST                            
• Monday provides the Aggies the opportunity to come away with a major upset to start the season. A win over the 16th-ranked Wildcats would mark the first time that the Aggies defeat a ranked opponent since knocking off No. 21 UConn in the First Round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. This also marked the last time that a team defeated the Huskies in the NCAA Tournament as UConn went on to win the 2023 National Championship.
• Prior to defeating UConn, NM State's last win over an opponent ranked inside the top-25 came in 2017 when the Aggies defeated #6 Miami in the Diamond Head Classic.'
 
SEEING THE SEC                                 
• The Aggies' matchup versus Kentucky will mark just the 14th time in program history that NM State faces off against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference.
• In total, the Aggies hold a 3-10 record against SEC competition with wins coming over Alabama (1994), Tennessee (1955) and Mississippi State (2019).
 
Date           Opponent     Result
12/13/51          Mizzou               L, 38-43
12/29/55          Vanderbilt         L, 40-64
12/30/55          Tennessee       W, 74-64
12/4/57            Arkansas            L, 50-59
12/23/57          Vanderbilt         L, 59-73
11/27/87          Alabama^          L, 84-85
11/18/94          Alabama          W, 86-69
12/28/97          Vanderbilt#      L, 72-79
11/21/98          Arkansas$         L, 60-66
3/12/99            Kentucky%        L, 60-82
3/21/19            Auburn*            L, 77-78
12/22/19          Miss. St.@       W, 58-52
3/19/22            Arkansas            L, 48-53
 
^ - PCAA Tournament (Inglewood, Calif.)
# - Rainbow Classic (Honolulu, Hawai'i)
$ - Top of the World Classic (Fairbanks, Alaska)
% - NCAA Tournament (New Orleans, La.)
* - NCAA Tournament (Salt Lake City, Utah)
@ - Game played in Jackson, Miss.
& - NCAA Tournament (Buffalo, N.Y.)