What: Game Twelve
Who: NM State (5-6, 0-0 CUSA) vs New Mexico (9-1, 0-0 MW)
When: Friday, Dec. 15, 7 p.m. MT
Where: Las Cruces, N.M. - Pan American Center (12,572)
 

THE OPENING TIP        

• Returning to action Tuesday night following a much-needed ten-day break, NM State pulled out a win against Northern New Mexico 76-71 - improving to a 4-0 record inside the Pan American Center.  

• The Aggies look to make round two of the Battle of I-25 more competitive this time around, suffering a 106-62 loss in Albuquerque on December 2. NM State holds a 3-2 record in games against the Lobos in Las Cruces since 2016, including a 100-65 victory in 2018 led by a 27-point performance from JoJo Zamora. 

• The Lobos come off a 93-76 victory over Santa Clara, improving their win streak to eight games. In their only true road contest of the season, New Mexico fell 72-58 to #23 Saint Mary's. 

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 two Aggies who have spent time on Power Five rosters as Kaosi Ezeagu (Kansas State) and Femi Odukale (Pitt) each played among the best of the best during their collegiate careers. 

AGGIES GET TO THE LINE

• NM State has done well at not only getting to the charity stripe but also cashing in those free attempts. They are currently ranked 56th in the country in free throw attempts per game (23.0) and 81st in free throws made per game (16.0).

RAWLS MOVING WITH CARE

•  Jordan Rawls is showing great handle and care of the ball this season leading the Aggies in Assist/Turnover ratio (2.53) which is ranked 87th in the country and second in CUSA. Also, he leads the team in total assist (43) which is ranked 92nd in the country and third in CUSA.

THE AGGIES WELCOME TANAHJ PETTWAY

•  Last game versus Northern New Mexico, the Stony Brook transfer Tanahj Pettway checked in to record his first minutes as an Aggie. In only eight minutes of action he managed to go 100% from the field (2-2) finishing with six points, two assist and zero turnovers in his debut. 

SUGGS BACK IN ACTION

• The Aggies welcomed back senior guard Brandon Suggs last game against Northern New Mexico. He saw the floor after missing seven games due to a foot injury he reaggravated versus UC Irvine. He put up his first double digit scoring game as an Aggie finishing with 10 points, four rebounds and one assist in the contest.

SCOUTING THE LOBOS'    

• Boasting a 9-1 mark on the season, the Lobos hold wins over Toledo, Rice, CUSA member LA Tech and former WAC foe UT Arlington. In the most recent Associated Press Top 25 Poll (Dec. 11), New Mexico received a pair of votes. 

• Last season, the Lobos finished with a 22-12 overall record and an 8-10 mark against Mountain West opponents, falling to Utah State 91-76 in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals. Hosting Utah Valley in the first round of the 2023 NIT, the Wolverines pulled off a 83-69 victory en route to an appearance in the semifinals.

• New Mexico is led by senior guards Jamal Mashburn (18.2 points per game) and Jalen House (13.2 points per game), two of the five Lobos who average double-digit points on the season. As a team the Lobos pace the Mountain West in scoring (86.1 points per game), scoring margin (+17.9) and rebounds (40.7).

• Richard Pitino helms the Lobos, currently in his third season as New Mexico's head coach. He is 44-32 in his tenure as the leading man in Albuquerque and holds a career record of 203-169.