SERIES RECORD: This is first meeting between the Aggies and Texas Southern, a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Wednesday’s game can be heard live on the Aggie Sports Network and over the Las Cruces radio airwaves on KSNM, 98.7 with NM State Hall of Famer Jack Nixon on the call.
The game will not be televised, but will be available on a pay-per-view video stream on NMStateSports.com.
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB: Live stats will be available for fans at www.nmstatesports.com at no cost all season long. Fans can click on the ‘Live Events’ link at the top of the NMStateSports.com home page or go to the men’s basketball schedule page and click on the ‘related links’ tab to access the live stats.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Get all the updates of Aggie Athletics on Twitter and Facebook. Get in-game statistics and in-game updates on Twitter @NMStateAggies. Find out about all Aggie Athletics promotions and events on Facebook (NM State Aggies and The Aggie Student-Athlete). Also, new this season, follow us on Instagram at NMStateAggies for photos from all the Aggie athletics.
WHAT WILL THEY DO NEXT: NM State’s unique marketing series, “What Will They Do Next” has got folks wondering what they might see at an Aggie Basketball game. So far this season, NM State has presented Pie Night complete with a pie eating contest, The Zooperstars, a mascot basketball game, given away 10 42-inch HD televisions, 5,000 trading cards and one live turkey. “What Will They Do Next?” The only way one can find out is to be in attendance at the Pan American Center! Call 575-646-1420 for tickets.
KIDS GET IN FREE: The Aggies welcome the youngsters against the Tigers as kids 12-and-under get into Tuesday night’s game free. It’s great family entertainment at the Pan American Center.
ABOUT THE TIGERS: Texas Southern (3-9) has a pair of upsets during the last 10 days. First it was then No. 25 Michigan State 71-64 in East Lansing on Dec. 20, then a wild 58-56 win at Kansas State on Sunday. There was also a 61-60 loss at Auburn on Dec. 23 thrown in. TSU is paced by forward Chris Thomas (6-5, Jr., Denver, Colo.) who averages 15.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals. Guard Madarious Gibbs (6-1, Sr., Newnan, Ga.) chalks up 10.7 points with 3.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Guard Deverell Biggs (6-1, Sr., Omaha, Neb.) adds 10.2 points with 2.9 boards, 1.9 assists and 1.7 steals. The Tigers are scoring 60.2 points an outing, while allowing 72.6 per game.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: The Aggies loss to Colorado State marked the first time since the 2011-12 season that NM State has lost more than one game at the Pan American Center in a season. That season the Aggies lost three games at home (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada). NM State had its 14-game home court winning streak at the Pan American Center snapped by New Mexico on Dec. 20, still the Aggies sport a 34-4 record at the Pan Am since the start of the 2012-13 season.
The Aggies’ 14-game home court winning streak was the second longest, dating back to the 11-12 season. The longest is 15-games, with the 14-game and an 11-game streak.
In the last 45 contests played by NM State at the Pan Am, the Aggies are 41-4.
With the win over Northern New Mexico, NM State is 9-0 against non-Division I teams under Marvin Menzies. The Aggies are 70-2 against non-Division I teams since Division I was established in 1973.
The Aggies have lost four players to significant injuries this season, including two starters (Daniel Mullings and Tshilidzi Nephawe) and two newcomers expected to make strong contributions (Tanveer Bhullar and Anthony January).
NM State has dropped all seven of its road games this season, with five of those teams either ranked or receiving votes in the AP and/or USA Today polls.
NM State is averaging 15.4 turnovers a game this season, and has turned the ball over 20 times in three games (Wichita State, Stetson, New Mexico).
NM State held Florida A&M to 33 points on Nov. 26, the fewest points scored at the Pan American Center and the fewest points scored against the Aggies since March 1952.
The Aggies are averaging 75.0 points a game at the Pan American Center this season, while giving up 56.6 points. On the road, NM State is averaging 65.9 points, while allowing 74.7 points a contest.
NM State looks to complete the rare four-peat in 2014-15, as the Aggies have won the WAC Tournament title and participated in the NCAA Tournament three years in a row.
Senior Remi Barry is leading the Aggies in scoring. Barry is averaging 13.9 points a game (sixth in the WAC) after scoring double-digits in 12 of this season’s 14 games. He is sixth in the WAC in field goal percentage, shooting 49.6 percent from the floor. He leads the WAC in 3-point field goal percentage at 59.3 percent.
Redshirt freshman Pascal Siakam grabbed his second double-double against Colorado State (13 pts/13 rbs). In 14 games, Siakam is averaging 11.9 points and is second on the team with 7.1 rebounds (tops for active players). He leads the WAC in blocked shots with 2.1 per game (55th nationally), is second in WAC in field goal percentage, .541, and ranks fifth in the league in board work. He has six games of three or more blocked shots.
Of the 15 players on the NM State roster, nine are from countries other than the United States. Five players are from Toronto, Canada, with two from France, one from Cameroon and one from South Africa.
MENZIES MOVING UP: Head coach Marvin Menzies has joined the number three spot on the New Mexico State all-time coaches wins list. In his eighth season at NM State, Menzies has a 157-97 record and needs just one more win to take over third all-time. Jerry Hines (1929-40, 1946-47) posted 157 wins in 12 seasons. Hall of Famer Lou Henson (1966-75, 1997-2005) holds the NM State record with 289 wins on the Aggie bench (289-152, 16 years), while Neil McCarthy (1985-97) has 229 victories (229-114, 12 years). Menzies was named one of Forbes’ top 25 college coaches for the money in November.
LOOKING BACK: The Aggies gave No. 24/25 Colorado State a hard run, but suffered a heart-breaking 58-57 loss to the Rams Saturday night at the Pan American Center.
NM State held an eight-point first half lead and a five-point second half lead, only to have the Rams battle back both times. Trailing by three with four seconds left, Ian Baker buried a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime. In the extra frame, with the Aggies up three with 1:20 to go, CSU scored the last four points and held on to remain unbeaten.
Remi Barry led the Aggies with 14 points, while Pascal Siakam picked up his second career double-double with 13 points and 13 boards, and added four blocks. Baker tallied 12 points with eight boards and four assists.
The Aggies shot 38 percent, held the Rams to 35 percent from the floor and outrebounded CSU 41-36. However, they turned the ball over 17 times to just five for CSU.
THE M*A*S*H UNIT: NM State has had a rough time with injuries at the start of this season. The Aggies suffered several injuries during preseason practice with ankle injuries to both Tanveer Bhullar and Anthony January that have cost both the start of the season. January is out for the season and will apply for a medical redshirt. Bhullar had to be casted and is expected to be out at least until the start of conference play. Second team Preseason All-WAC forward Tshilidzi Nephawe suffered a foot injury during the preseason, but was able to come back to start the first six games. But his foot was not healing properly, so he was shut down at Thanksgiving with a January target to return. Then in practice following the first the New Mexico game, WAC Player of the Year Daniel Mullings broke his finger severely enough to have surgery. Mullings is expected to be out until at least early February.
TOUGH TO SCORE AGAINST: New Mexico State held Florida A&M to just 33 points in their game on Nov. 26, 2014. It marked the fewest points allowed by the Aggies since March 4, 1952 when NM State beat Eastern New Mexico 34-27 in the NAIB Tournament.
The Aggies also held Northern New Mexico to only 39 points on Dec. 22, 2014.
The games are just the seventh and eighth times since 1950 that NM State has allowed an opponent less than 40 points in a game.
AGAINST NATIONALLY RANKED COMPETITION: New Mexico State is 1-18 against teams ranked in either the AP or USA Today Top 25 since the 2006-07 season. The Aggies last win against a nationally ranked team was on Jan. 20, 2007, when they defeated No. 13/15 Nevada 80-73 at the Pan American Center. NM State has lost the last 18 contests against teams nationally ranked since then. Coach Marvin Menzies’ Aggies are 0-16 against nationally ranked squads.
COURTESY NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS
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