THE OPENING TIP
• After breaking their three game losing streak with an impressive defensive performance versus their old WAC foe California Baptist, the Aggies look to forward to moving to 2-0 in Conference USA and winning their first road game of the season.
• The Aggies won 63-53 to I-10 rivals UTEP in another impressive defensive performance on Thursday evening. With the win, Hooten's group goes to 7-1 at home this year and open conference play 1-0.
• NM State will collide with FIU for its second game of conference play this season, the Panthers are currently coming off a road loss versus Jax State 63-70 on Saturday in their conference opener.
• Thursday will mark only the sixth time that the Aggies and Panthers meet on the hardwood with NM State coming out on top 71-66 in the last meeting on Jan 24, 2005.
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 been successful at forcing the issue this season and that has resulted in being one of the conference's best at earning and converting free throws.
• Through 15 games, the Aggies rank fourth in the conference in free-throw attempts per game (21.7). This mark is also good for 82nd in the country.
DEFENSE ON THE RISE
• The Aggies have made strides in defensive proficiency which has been a key denominator in their recent contest. NM State has managed to hold their last three opponents below 22% from beyond the arc, under 35% from the field and holding those teams beneth 60 points per game.
•With this increased defensive presence, the Aggies now hold challengers to 40.6 from the field which now has them ranked 69th in the country and third in CUSA in field goal percentage defense.
THE AGGIES WELCOME TANAHJ PETTWAY
• On Dec. 12, the newest Aggie made his debut as Stony Brook transfer Tanahj Pettway checked in during the Aggies' 76-71 victory over Northern New Mexico. Against the Eagles, Pettway logged eight minutes and posted six points including draining a huge three down the stretch to help lift the Aggies to the win.
• Prior to landing on the NM State roster, Pettway appeared in 35 games for the Seawolves across two seasons - 33 of which came during the 2022-23 campaign. Pettway also made eight starts as a junior and averaged 7.1 points per game. In total, Pettway notched a career-high 38 steals to pace the team.
• Before suiting up for Stony Brook, Pettway averaged 11.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game during the 2020-21 season with Indian River State College. Pettway ultimately played two seasons at Indian River State College and helped lead the program to its most successful two-year spurt in school history - winning back-to-back Southern Conference titles and reaching the national tournament for the first time in 46 years in 2020-21.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
• The Aggies have made it their mission to protect home court and have held true to that. Following non-conference play NM State is now 7-1at home with its only loss coming from a one point nail-biter to I-25 rivals New Mexico.
• On top of the Aggies being 7-1 at home, they also are leading Conference USA in game attendance this season with an average of 4,849 fans per contest.
ROBERT'S BREAKOUT
• Versus Cal Baptist Saturday night, Robert Carpenter posted 20 points and seven rebounds in just 17 minutes, his eighth game in double-digits for the Aggies and second 20-point performance this season.
• The junior from Detroit also put up 20 points against Fresno State in the Cancun Challenge (11/21). The junior from Detroit also led the team with seven rebounds.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
• FIU will enter Thursday night with a 5-11, including going 4-3 at home this season. As a team, the Panthers are 13th in the country in bench points per game (32.9) which leads all CUSA teams. On the defensive end the Panthers have been the aggressors in forcing turnovers and are second in the nation in steals (11.8)
• FIU will be led by Head Coach Jeremy Ballard who is in his sixth season leading the program. Last season, Ballard led his team to a 14-18 record before falling to LA Tech in overtime during the CUSA Conference Tournament 76-81.
• The Panthers are led in scoring by Arturo Dean who posts 12.5 points per game. He is a sophomore in his second year at FIU. He is also leading the nation with 4.4 steals per game.
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