Game Twenty-Two
NM State (18-3, 8-1 WAC) vs. Seattle U (17-5, 8-1 WAC)
Saturday, Feb. 5 | 4:00 p.m. | Pan American Center | Las Cruces, N.M.
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets | NM State Game Notes | Seattle U Game Notes | Program

THE OPENING TIP
• A battle for sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference standings is on tap Saturday afternoon as NM State and Seattle U prepare for a pivotal clash inside the Pan American Center. The squads currently possess identical 8-1 marks in WAC play, tied for first place in the league rankings.
• Tip-off in the 24th all-time meeting between the Aggies and Redhawks is set for 4:00 p.m. The contest will be televised regionally on Comcast New Mexico, The 'CW' El Paso/Las Cruces as well as on Bally Sports Arizona Plus. ESPN+ and the ESPN app are set to carry each and every second of the clash nationwide as well.
• The play-by-play and analysis combo of Adam Young and former NM State player Joe Garza are set to narrate the action on all television and video streaming platforms. Over the airwaves, legendary radio play-by-play man Jack Nixon will set up shop courtside to call the action.
• Nixon's play-by-play and analysis can be heard on 99.5 Zia Country FM in Las Cruces, N.M., and nationwide on The Varsity Network app.
• Affiliate stations of the Aggie Sports Network can be tuned in to in Artesia, N.M. (990 AM), Carlsbad, N.M. (1240 AM), Gallup, N.M. (94.9 FM), Alamogordo, N.M. (103.7 FM) and El Paso, Texas (1380 AM). All of those stations will also carry Nixon's commentary of Saturday afternoon's tilt.

THIS GAME IS NO SECRET
• For the second-straight season, college basketball teams around the nation will be taking part "Eracism" -  a social inclusion movement committed to bringing forth change through education, awareness, and action with current and former college basketball coaches leading the way.
• One of the main points of the "Eracism" initiative is "This Game is No Secret." The weekend of games, which falls this year on the first weekend in February, pays homage to Coach John McLendon.
• McLendon became the first African American coach to win an integrated national championship. 
• In 1944, McLendon coached the North Carolina College Eagles to an 88-44 win over Duke in the "Secret Game", which was the first collegiate basketball contest where African Americans and European-Americans competed on the same floor. 
• Saturday, the NM State men's basketball team will be sporting special warm-up shirts to honor the legacy of Coach McLendon and his efforts to unify the sport of basketball.
• To learn more and to get involved, fans are encouraged to visit Eracism4Ever.com.

FAST BREAK POINTS
• NM State sits in a tie for first place in the latest edition of the WAC standings. Both the Aggies and Seattle U are 8-1 in WAC games.
• For the second time under head coach Chris Jans and for the fifth time in the history of the program, NM State has won 18 of its first 21 games to start the season. NM State previously started 18-3 through its first 20 games in 2017-18, 1993-94, 1967-68 and 1938-39.
• Only six other teams in NM State history have put forth a better record than 18-3 through their first 21 games. The Aggies went 19-2 to start the year in 2016-17, 1990-91, 1989-90, 1969-70, 1968-69, and 1937-38.
• NM State's 18 wins are the ninth-most among all NCAA Division I men's basketball teams this season as well as the most by any WAC team.
• NM State has won its last 30 home games against WAC opponents dating back 2017. The Aggies' last loss to a WAC team in the Pan American Center came on Feb. 23, 2017, when they dropped an 84-72 decision to Utah Valley.
• Since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, NM State owns an 85-4 (.955) record in WAC home games. Those four losses came by a combined 34 points (an average of 8.4 per game).
• NM State head coach Chris Jans is 57-10 (.851) in regular-season WAC games as the Aggies' head coach. Included in that record is a perfect 27-0 (1.000) showing against WAC squads inside NM State's home venue of the Pan American Center.
• NM State's .851 winning percentage in WAC regular season games under Jans is the nation's second-best in-conference winning percentage figure since 2017-18. Only Gonzaga's (69-2, .972) is higher.
• Currently the Aggies have two players on their roster - Teddy Allen and Donnie Tillman - who have amassed 1,000 or more points in their respective NCAA Division I careers. A third, though, could do so as early as Saturday. Jabari Rice is 23 points away from becoming the 36th Aggie to join the 1,000-point club.
• Should Rice do so on Saturday, NM State would have two players hit the 1,000-point mark in back-to-back games. That's something of a rarity in college basketball, though, as UNC Wilmington and Colorado State were the last teams to accomplish a feat like that. For UNC Wilmington, Jaylen Fornes hit the milestone on Jan. 22, 2022 at Towson before Jaylen Sims did so at Northeastern on Jan. 24, 2022. Looking at Colorado State, David Roddy (Dec. 11, 2021 vs. Mississippi State) and Isaiah Stevens (Jan. 4, 2022 vs. Air Force) both hit the 1,000-point mark in back-to-back game for the Rams this season.
• Mississippi State saw two of its players hit the 1,000-point mark in a single game just a few years ago. On March 9, 2019, the Bulldogs' Aric Holman and Lamar Peters reached 1,000 career points in the same game (versus Texas A&M).
• Before Colorado State this season last instance of two players getting to 1,000 career points in back-to-back games came in 2020 when the Rider duo of Tyere Mitchell (Jan. 19 at Canisius) and Frederick Scott (Jan. 24 vs. St. Peter's) did so.
• Outside of Colorado State, Mississippi State and Rider in the 21st century, you'd have to go back all the way to 1957 to find an instance where two different players recorded their 1,000th career points in back-to-back games. Dartmouth's Jim Francis hit the milestone on Feb. 16, 1957 (against Columbia) and teammate Ron Judson did so in his team's next game on Feb. 19, 1957 (against Holy Cross).
• With a win at SFA on Saturday, Jan. 22, NM State senior forward Johnny McCants overtook Ian Baker for the highest number of wins in the history the program (111). Baker, who suited up for NM State from 2014-17, amassed 110 wins through the course of his storied Aggie career, but McCants is slowly increasing the number of wins on his resume with 113 to his credit.
• The second half has been a strength of the Aggies all season long. NM State has outscored its foes 888-720 (+168) in the second half - good for an average of 8.0 points per game. NM State has outscored its opponent by 15 or more in the final frame six times this season, too. Only Arizona, Colorado State, Gonzaga, Kentucky and St. Mary's have exceeded those second-half scoring stats put up by the Aggies.
• Monday morning, for the third time in 2021-22, Teddy Allen earned WAC Player of the Week honors. His latest citation from the league came on the heels of a 28-point, 12-rebound double-double in the Aggies' home win over Grand Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 29. Allen is the first NM State player to collect three or more WAC Player of the Week laurels in a single season since 2017-18 when Jemerrio Jones (three) and Zach Lofton (four) amassed a total of seven WAC Player of the Week citations between them.

MISCELLANEOUS & MILESTONES
• NM State's collective field goal percentage of .464 ranks 70th in the nation and is the second-best in the WAC.
• The Aggies' rebounding margin of +7.4 is the 17th-best in the nation as well as the second-best in the WAC.
• NM State ranks 17th nationally in terms of field goal percentage defense. The Aggies are allowing their opponents to shoot just 38.9-percent from the floor this season which is the second-best among all WAC teams.
• In one of his most recent games, redshirt junior guard Jabari Rice put in 21 points as NM State won at WAC foe SFA (Jan. 22). When Rice scores 20 or more points in a game, NM State is 10-1 (.909).
• High-scoring guard Teddy Allen leads NM State in scoring at a rate of 18.8 points per game and also ranks 42nd nationally in free throw percentage (.871). The Phoenix, Ariz., product also sits among the top 90 players nationally in field goal attempts (81st, 284).
• With head coach Chris Jans leading the way, the Aggies have posted a 6-6 (.500) record against Power Five opponents. That mark includes a 6-4 (.600) showing against Power Five foes in regular-season tilts. NM State has secured wins over Illinois, Miami, Mississippi State and Washington State (three times) under Jans' direction since 2017-18.
• Jans returned to the bench on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021 for the Aggies' game at UTEP. The team's fifth-year bench boss had previously missed its last two games due to COVID-19 protocols.
• In a 101-94 home loss to New Mexico on Monday, Nov. 30, 2021, the Aggies gave up 100 or more points to the opposition for the first time in the Chris Jans coaching era. Before that game, the last time NM State let a foe hit the century mark came in 2017 when it claimed a 107-101 WAC win at UTRGV on Feb. 18. Since 2010, only three NM State opponents (Nevada, New Mexico and UTRGV) have amassed 100 or more points in a game.
• Now in his fifth season in an NM State uniform, Johnny McCants has broken into the program's top-ten leaders in blocked shots. McCants, a Las Cruces, N.M., product has 108 rejections to his credit as a collegian which are the eighth-most all-time by any Aggie. Other Aggies who rejected 100 or more shots in their respective careers include James Moore (200), Sim Bhullar (196), Hamidu Rahman (137), Pascal Siakam (137), Tshilidzi Nephawe (135), Slab Jones (124) and Charles Gosa (116).

LAST TIME OUT vs. SEATTLE U | NM State 65, Seattle U 58 | Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021
• In a physical bout which featured more combined personal fouls (39) than total field goals made (38), NM State received a game-high 19 points from junior guard Jabari Rice to claim a 65-58 victory over Seattle U in the Redhawk Center.
• Senior guard Clayton Henry picked a great time to post his first double-double in an NM State uniform, going for 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
• Henry's rebounding acumen represented the Aggies' tenacity on the glass well as NM State concluded the game with a 45-24 (+21) edge in that area.
• Johnny McCants finished with 16 points to round out the Aggies' main trio of scorers. McCants did much of his damage from the free throw line where he sank a career-best eight freebies and matched his career-high with 10 attempts from that distance.
• The win represented the Aggies' first true road victory over an NCAA Division I opponent in the 2020-21 season.
• Though he didn't score a point, redshirt sophomore forward Will McNair helped the Aggies win the battle on the glass. McNair matched his career-high by pulling down eight rebounds in the win.
• At the time, the Aggies connected on a season-best 12 three-pointers in the win, too, with Rice accounting for four of them. Henry and McCants drained two each while Gerald Doakes, Evan Gilyard II, Wilfried Likayi and Kalen Williams put in one apiece.
• NM State's 21-rebound advantage represented the team's biggest edge on the glass since Feb. 27, 2020, when the Aggies out-rebounded Grand Canyon 48-26 (+22) in Phoenix.
• Defense was also key for the Aggies as they surrendered just 23 first-half point to the Redhawks - the lowest total by an Aggie foe in 2020-21.

LAST TIME OUT | NM State 68, California Baptist 57 | Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022
• Needing 22 points to reach an even 1,000 in his NCAA Division I career, NM State guard Teddy Allen scored exactly that many as the Aggies overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to claim a 68-57 triumph over California Baptist Thursday night inside the Pan American Center.
• Allen, who was playing in his 78th NCAA Division I game, went 10-of-13 from the foul line to help NM State claim its third-straight victory.
• In addition to Allen, NM State relied on contributions from multiple players to get the job done. Jabari Rice slung in 16 points while dishing out a game-high five assists in the win.
• Johnny McCants added 12 for his first double-digit scoring outing inside the Pan American Center since Nov. 24, 2021. Making the first start of his NM State career, Yuat Alok finished with 10 points on a 5-of-7 shooting clip in 11 minutes of action.
• Allen is the second player on NM State's roster who has scored 1,000 or more points in his NCAA Division I career. Senior forward Donnie Tillman hit the 1,000-point mark in last season's WAC Tournament championship game loss to Grand Canyon on March 13.
• Another off night from the three-point line meant NM State has shot just 6-of-36 (.167) from there over its last two games. It hasn't mattered, though, as the Aggies moved to 53-4 inside the Pan American Center in Chris Jans' tenure as head coach.
• The Aggies grabbed yet another victory in 2021-22 after trailing by 10 or more points. NM State now has four comeback victories in which it trailed by 10 or more this season.
• NM State extended its winning streak over California Baptist to two games with Thursday night's win. The Aggies are 3-0 all-time against the Lancers inside the Pan American Center.
• Though he didn't appear in the starting lineup for the first time this season, Will McNair Jr., finsihed with a team-high seven rebounds and helped the Aggies own a 38-16 (+22) edge in points in the paint.
• Over the last two games, NM State has a 72-36 (+36) edge in points in the paint over its opposition.

SCOUTING SEATTLE U | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• A surprising season is underway in the Pacific Northwest as Seattle U hopes to continue its best start to a season since 1963-64 by obtaining its first-ever win inside the Pan American Center Saturday afternoon.
• Like NM State, dynamic guard play has been the recipe for success for the Redhawks as they hope to take over sole possession of first place in the league standings. The likes of Cameron Tyson, Darrion Trammell and Riley Grigsby make up a lethal trifecta of backcourt performers who haven't met a shot they didn't like so far.
• Tyson (16.5 points per game) and Trammell (16.3 points per game) rank sixth and seventh in the league respectively in scoring and while they'll certainly get theirs inside the Pan American Center it'll be Grigsby who hopes to get back on track. He was held scoreless in Thursday's loss at Grand Canyon, snapping a 61-game streak of games with points. This season, though, Grigsby does average 13.3 points per game on the strength of a 41-percent shooting clip.
• Down low, versatile forward Emeka Udenyi has proven himself capable of doing a little bit of everything. Udenyi submitted a triple-double in the Redhawks' non-conference finale and comes in averaging 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
• The Redhawks don't throw the ball away and hit their free throws, too, and that's a big reason for their 17-5 start. Seattle U leads the WAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.20) while ranking 19th nationally in free throw percentage (.774).
• Unquestionably the biggest weapon in the Redhawks' arsenal is the three-pointer. Seattle U hits triples at a rate of 10.1 per game - the nation's 14th-highest rate. The Redhawks' 619 tries from long range are the 15th-highest number in the land while their 222 makes are the 14th-most.
• Tyson (80-of-193) is the Redhawks' most high-profile three-point launcher while Trammell's defensive abilities make him a strong all-around player. Trammell averages 2.62 steals per game - the third-highest mark in the nation.

COMING UP NEXT
• Once the Aggies put the wraps on their longest WAC home stand of the season Saturday, they'll pack up for another league road trip. The state of Utah is the destination for NM State next week as they make for St. George for a Thursday night battle at Dixie State. Tip-off inside Burns Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.

++NM State++