What: Game Twenty-Six
Who: NM State (11-14, 5-5 CUSA) at Western Kentucky (18-7, 7-4 CUSA)
When: Saturday, Feb. 17, 1:00 p.m. MT
Where: Bowling Green, Ky. - E.A Diddle Arena (7,326)
 

THE OPENING TIP

• After an impressive start, the Aggies could not outlast Middle Tennessee Thursday night falling 76-69. With the loss, the Aggies fall to an 11-14 overall record and 5-5 record in conference play..

• NM State will collide with Western Kentucky for its second time this season, with them overcoming the Hilltoppers after pulling off a 23-point comeback at home to win 72-70.

• Saturday will mark only the eighth time that the Aggies and Hilltoppers meet on the hardwood.

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. 

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

• The Aggies have made it their mission to protect home court and have held true to that. NM State is now 11-1at home with its only loss coming from a one-point nail-biter to I-25 rivals New Mexico. 

• On top of the Aggies being 11-1 at home, they also are leading Conference USA in game attendance this season with an average of 5,367 fans per contest. Versus Jax State, NM State hosted its "Pack the Pan Am" game bringing out 11,278 fans in attendance, the most of any CUSA team this season. 

• 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 162-20 in contests from the Pan American Center.

AGGIES PUTTING IN OVERTIME

• After falling in their previous two overtime games this season, Thursday's win marked the Aggies first overtime win of the year.

This also marks the first time the Aggies picked up an overtime win since Dec. 6, 2021, when Chris Jans and the Aggies defeated New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M.

• Additionally, the Aggies' three overtime games marks the most overtime games for the program since the 2015-16 season when they also needed extra time in three games. In total, the Aggies have only ever played in more overtime games in one season on six occasions, including the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons in which the Aggies went to overtime in five games each season.

COOK STARTS TO COOK

 • Versus Liberty, Christian Cook had one of his best performances in an Aggies uniform. He finished with a season-high and game-high 27 points. This also came up just two points shy of his career high. Cook also finished the night with six rebounds to equal his career high. Cook's 27 points also marks the most in a single game by any Aggie this season. 

• He followed up this performance leading the Aggies in scoring versus Jax State putting up 17 points while going (3-6) from beyond the arc.

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 (3.9). Rawls has already eclipsed his high for assists in a single season with 88.

• Additionally, he has been exceptional at taking care of the ball and ranks third in the league in assist to turnover ratio (1.69). 

• 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 111 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 114 games.

BALANCED ATTACK

NM State boasts a balanced offensive effort with eight players averaging between 7.4 and 10.7 points per game. The Aggies also feature 10 student-athletes averaging at least 2.5 rebounds per game. Femi Odukale paces NM State in both categories, averaging 10.7 points per game along with 6.0 rebounds per game.

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 40.5% from the field which now has them ranked 33rd in the country and second in CUSA in field goal percentage defense.

HARRIS'S HOT STREAK

• Jaden Harris has gone on a scoring tear in his last two games after recently getting placed back in the starting lineup for the Aggies. In his last two starts, the Atlanta native has put up 20 points versus UTEP and 22 points against Middle Tennessee. 

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS

• WKU will enter Saturday night with a 18-7 (7-4). As a team, the Hilltoppers are 21st in the country in rebounds per game (40.1) which leads all CUSA teams. On the defensive end the the Hilltoppers are 20th in the country in three point percentage defense per game (29.7) 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 16.3 points per game. He is a junior guard in his first year with the team. He is also rank 80th in the country in free throw percentage which is good for third in CUSA.
 

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