What: Game Twenty-Eight
Who: NM State (11-16, 5-7 CUSA) vs LA Tech (19-8, 9-3 CUSA)
When: Saturday, Feb. 24, 7:00 p.m. MT
Where: Las Cruces, N.M. - Pan American Center (12,572)
THE OPENING TIP
• After suffering its first loss at home in nearly two months against Sam Houston (79-58), Hooten's group goes to (11-16) overall and (5-7) in conference play on the season.
• NM State will collide with LA Tech for its thirteenth game of conference play this season, with the Bulldogs currently coming off a road win versus UTEP (65-59) on Thursday to move to (9-3) in conference play.
• Saturday will be the Aggie's second time lacing up against the Bulldogs this season with the Aggies falling on the road (73-53). NM State looks to get the ball back rolling after losing its last four games.
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 11-2 at home with its only losses coming against New Mexico and Sam Houston.
• On top of the Aggies being 11-2 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 162-21 in contests from the Pan American Center.
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 (3.7). Rawls has already eclipsed his high for assists in a single season with 95.
• Additionally, he has been exceptional at taking care of the ball and ranks third in the league in assist to turnover ratio (1.68).
• 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 114 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 117 games.
BALANCED ATTACK
NM State boasts a balanced offensive effort with eight players averaging between 7.2 and 10.9 points per game. The Aggies also feature 10 student-athletes averaging at least 2.6 rebounds per game. Femi Odukale paces NM State in both categories, averaging 10.9 points per game along with 6.3 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 41.2% from the field which now has them ranked 50th in the country and second in CUSA in field goal percentage defense.
HARRIS'S HOT STREAK
• Entering the weekend, Jaden Harris was averaging 16.6 points in 29.8 minutes of action in his last five starts. He shot 40 percent (12-30) from three-point range and converted 17-18 (94.4 percent) from the free-throw line in that stretch.
• His best performance over the stretch came against Middle Tennessee where he put up 22 points on 9-14 shooting from the field.
• Harris will look to return to that form Saturday against LA Tech
HOME HOLDS HOPE
• Home court has surely been an advantage for the Aggies. Before falling to Sam Houston for its first home conference loss of the season, NM State held a six-game win streak in the Pan American Center.
• In that six-game stretch, the Aggies averaged a +6 scoring margin while holding visiting opponents to shooting only 37% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
• LA Tech will enter Saturday night with a 19-8 (9-3) record. The Bulldogs are 6th in the country in field goal percentage defense per game (38.9) which is first in CUSA. The Bulldogs are also 9th in the country in scoring defense (63.4) which also holds first place in CUSA.
• LA Tech is led by Talvin Hester who is in his second season leading as head coach. Last season, he led the Bulldogs to a 15-18 overall record before sufferiing a loss to North Texas 46-74 in the CUSA conference tournament.
• The Bulldogs are led in scoring by Isaiah Crawford, who posts 16.1 points per game. The senior forward was picked as the CUSA Preseason Player of the year for the 2023-24 season. He also is ranked 15th in the country in steals (60) and 20th in steals per game (2.22).
• Lastly, the Aggies will have to contend with bigman Daniel Batcho, who is averaging 10.1 rebounds a game which leads all players in CUSA. He is ranked 12th in the nation in rebounds per game
(10.2), 10th in offensive rebounds per game (3.8) and 10th in blocks per game (2.43) which all are good for first in CUSA.
##NM State##
