What: Game Eighteen
Who: NM State (7-10, 1-1 CUSA) at Western Kentucky (13-4, 2-1 WAC)
When: Thursday, Jan. 18, 7:00 p.m. MT
Where: Las Cruces, N.M. - Pan American Center (12,572)
THE OPENING TIP
• After opening CUSA play with a win against I-10 rivals UTEP, the Aggies fell on the road versus FIU after a near second half comeback to become (1-1) in conference play this season.
• The Aggies lost 67-77 to FIU in their first meeting since 2005. With the loss, Hooten's group goes to 7-10 on the season.
• NM State will collide with WKU for its third game of conference play this season, with the Hilltoppers currently coming off a home win versus Jax State 80-69 on Saturday in their third game of conference play.
• Thursday will mark only the seventh time that the Aggies and Hilltoppers meet on the hardwood, with NM State falling short 75-77 in the last meeting 19 years ago on Jan 29, 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 17 games, the Aggies rank fourth in the conference in free-throw attempts per game (21.6). This mark is also good for 79th in the country and third CUSA.
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 out of four 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 65th 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.
HELP FROM THE BENCH
• NM State has shown that its capable of having players from the bench make an impact in action. The Aggies are now 88th in the country in bench points per game averaging 24.6 per contest.
• This was on display when newcomer Tanahj Pettway came off of his best game as an Aggies thus far. He entered the game against FIU off the bench in the second half and put up 14 points and three rebounds in only 13 minutes of action.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
• The Aggies have made it their mission to protect home court and have held true to that. 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.
• For more than a decade, the 'Panamaniacs' have helped the Aggies be one of the most dominant teams in the nation from their home floor. Dating back to the 2011-2012 season, NM State is 159-20 in contests from the Pan American Center.
BALANCED ATTACK
• NM State hold a balanced scoring attack that features seven players averaging at least eight points per game. The Aggies are led by Femi Odukale with 11.5 points per game followed closely behind by Robert Carpenter and Christian Cook both averaging 10.2 per game.
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU will enter Thursday night with a 13-4 (2-1) record which is good enough for second place in CUSA. As a team, the Hilltoppers are 19th in the country in rebounds per game (41.1) which leads all CUSA teams. On the defensive end the the Hilltoppers are 16th in the country in three point percentage defense per game (28.3) which holds first place in CUSA.
• WKU is led by Head Coach Steve Lutz who is in his first season leading the program. Last season, Lutz was the head coach for Texas A&M Corpus Christi and led his former team to a 24-11 record and won the Southland Conference Tournament before falling to Alabama in the NCAA Tournament 75-96.
• The Hilltoppers are led in scoring by Don McHenry who posts 15.3 points per game. He is a junior guard in his first year with the team. He is also rank 66th in the country in free throw percentage which is good for third in CUSA.
