THE OPENING TIP        
What: Game Eight
Who: NM State (3-4, 0-0 CUSA) vs Louisville (2-3, 0-0 ACC)
When: Sunday, Nov. 26, 11:00 a.m. MT
Where: Louisville, Ky. - KFC Yum! Center 

THE OPENING TIP        
• The last time out, NM State lost its last battle in the Cancun Challenge to Southern Illinois 54-81.  
• The Aggies are looking to make a bounce back Sunday afternoon againist Louisville at the KFC Yum Center.
• The Cardinals are coming off a tough loss against Indiana 66-74 in the MBB Empire Classic to push them to 2-3 on the season. They are looking to build back momentum against the Aggies on Sunday in front of a home crowd. 

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 three Aggies who have spent time on Power Five rosters as Kaosi Ezeagu (Kansas State), Femi Odukale (Pitt) and Davion Bradford (Wake Forest and Kansas State) each played among the best of the best during their collegiate careers.
• Unfortunately for the Aggies, only Kaosi Ezeagu will be available in the season opener as both Odukale and Bradford are awaiting transfer waivers from the NCAA.

AGGIES GET TO THE LINE
•NM State done well at not only getting to the charity stripe but also cashing in those free attempts. They are currently ranked 67th in the country in free throw attempts per game (23.6) and 66th in free throws made per game (17.1). Christian Cook is also ranked 25th in country in free throw percentage (94.7).      

RAWLS DISHING OUT DIMES
• Jordan Rawls is showing great handle of the ball this season and is leading the Aggies in assist averaging 4.6 a game with 32 total for the season. He is currently ranked 23rd in the country in total assist and 61st in assist/turnover ratio (3.2).

FEMI'S AGGIE DEBUT
• Femi Odukale made his long-awaited NM State debut last Saturday, playing 23 minutes off the bench and recording 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals. He has since started two games and is currently averaging 16 points, seven rebounds and three assist for the Aggies. 

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS    
• Lousiville will take on the Aggies Sunday in what will be its sixth game of the season after coming off two losses in the Empire Classic in New York versus Texas and Indiana. 
• Last season, the Cardinals finished the season with a 4-28 overall record and a 2-18 mark against ACC opponents.
• The Salukis will be led by sophomore guard Skyy Clark. He is currently averaging 14.4 points per game.
• Louisville is led by Kenny Payne who is entering his second season as the Cardinals head coach. He is (6-31) in his tenure as head coach.