What: Game Twenty
Who: NM State (9-10, 3-1 CUSA) at Sam Houston (10-9, 3-1 CUSA)
When: Thursday, Jan. 25, 7:00 p.m. MT
Where: Huntsville, Texas. - Johnson Coliseum (6,100)
 

THE OPENING TIP

• After completing an impressive come from behind victory to knock off Western Kentucky, the Aggies defeated Middle Tennessee 73-62 in their first meeting since 2005. With the win, Hooten's group improves to 9-10 on the season and 3-1 in CUSA play to now be in a three-way tie for first place in conference. 

• NM State will collide with Sam Houston for its fifth game of conference play this season, with the Bearkats currently coming off a road loss versus Liberty 66-82 on Thursday in their fourth game of conference play. 

• Saturday will mark only the sixth time that the Aggies and Bearkats meet on the hardwood, with NM State falling short 62-75 in the last meeting Dec 31, 2023.

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. 

DEFENSE ON THE RISE

• The Aggies have made strides in defensive proficiency which has been a key denominator in their recent contest. With this increased defensive presence, the Aggies now hold challengers to 41.1 from the field which now has them ranked 74th in the country and fourth in CUSA in field goal percentage defense.  

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

• The Aggies have made it their mission to protect home court and have held true to that. NM State is now 8-1at home with its only loss coming from a one-point nail-biter to I-25 rivals New Mexico. 

• On top of the Aggies being 8-1 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 161-20 in contests from the Pan American Center.

HOOTEN'S HOUSE 

• During his 13-year stretch at the helm Coach Hooten was 151-37 (.803) inside Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum where he will step foot in as on opponent for the first time on Thursday night. 

• Hooten's tenure in Huntsville, Texas, also concluded with nine straight seasons in which the Bearkats finished with 10 or more wins at home. This includes four seasons that Sam Houston lost just one game in front of its home crowd.  

FROM DOWNTOWN 

• This season, NM State ranks third among CUSA teams in 3-point percentage – shooting the ball at a 34.8% clip. 

• In the last three games, the Aggies have shot 40% from range and have made at least seven threes in each contest – a feat they had accomplished only three times in the 10 games prior to this stretch. 

• The increase in 3-point shooting has been throttled by performances from Robert Carpenter, Jaden Harris and Tanahj Pettway who have each hit exactly six 3-pointers in the last three games. This accounts for over 64% of the Aggie makes across the last three games in which NM State has combined to make 28 threes. 

RUNNIN' WITH RAWLS 

• This season, Jordan Rawls has emerged as one of the top guards in Conference USA. The Chattanooga, Tenn., native leads the Aggies in assists per game at 4.4. This is also good for second in the conference. With seven assists against Middle Tennessee last Saturday, Rawls has already eclipsed his high for assists in a single season with 80. 

• Additionally, he has been exceptional at taking care of the ball and ranks third in the league in assist to turnover ratio (2.00). 

• Rawls has also done it on the defensive end as his 1.3 steals per game is also good for tops on the team and tenth in the conference. 

• Of note, Rawls is one of the most experienced players in all of the conference. Including his three seasons with Western Kentucky, he has now played in 106 games as a member of a Conference USA institution. This ranks third among active CUSA players, coming in behind only FIU's Javaunte Hawkins and Petar Krivokapic who have each played in 109 games.

HOOTEN HISTORY

• In his Sam Houston tenure, Hooten served 18 years total in Huntsville with 13 seasons as head coach and five as assistant coach. During this those years he recorded six seasons with 20 or more wins, including four in his final six seasons.

• Hooten left the program as the all-time winningest coach in program history with 261 wins. In that timespan, he helped Sam Houston to six postseason appearances, including its first-ever NIT appearance and a win in the 2023 NIT First Round.

• Against NM State he was 2-0 during his time with Sam Houston, including a 25-point win to end a 10-game winning streak during the 2021-22 season.

SCOUTING THE BEARKATS

• Sam Houston will enter Thursday night with a 10-9 (3-1). The Bearkats are 57th in the country in turnovers forced per game (14.3) which is fourth in CUSA. The Bearkats are also 94th in the country in free throw attempts per game (21.3) which holds fourth place in CUSA.

• Sam Houston is led by Chris Mudge who is in his first season leading as head coach. On April 4, 2023, after the departure of Hooten, Mudge was named the 20th head coach for the Sam Houston men's basketball program.

• The Bearkats are led in scoring by Lamar Wilkerson who posts 15.4 points per game. The junior guard was picked CUSA Player of the Week Nov 27, 2023. 

• After wins against LA Tech, Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee the Bearkats are in a three-way tie with NM State and LA Tech for first place in conference.