What: Game Nine
Who: NM State (2-5, 0-0 CUSA) vs Univ of the Southwest (3-2, 0-0 NAIA)
When: Tuesday, Nov. 28, 7 p.m. MT
Where: Las Cruces, N.M. - Pan American Center (12,572)

THE OPENING TIP        
• The last time out, NM State fell short in a hard fought overtime battle with Louisville 84-90 at the KFC Yum Center.  
• The Aggies are looking to make a bounce back Tuesday night after a long three game road stretch.
• The Mustangs are coming off a home victory against Northern New Mexico 81-75. They are looking to put up a fight against the Aggies on Tuesday on the road. 

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.

#CONTINUETHECONVERSATION
• Tuesday's game will be marked as the CUSA Mental Health Awareness game for the Aggies. CUSA uses this as an opportunity to continue the conversation of mental health regarding the stigma around it and remind the players that they are not alone. 

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 84th in the country in free throw attempts per game (23.6) and 87th in free throws made per game (16.1) this past week.     

RAWLS DISHING OUT DIMES
• Jordan Rawls is showing great handle of the ball this season and is leading the Aggies in assist averaging 4.5 a game with 34 total for the season. He is currently ranked 41st in the country in total assist and 92nd in assist per game.

KAOSI'S BREAKOUT
• Kaosi Ezeagu posted a career-high 17 points on 8-9 from the field. The 89% success rate is also the best by an Aggie this season. Ezeagu also finished with eight rebounds – a mark that is one shy of his career high. 

EVERYONE GETTING INVOLVED
• For only the second time this season the Aggies had five different scorers reach double digits in the same game. Rawls (20), Ezeagu (17), Cook (12), Jackson (12) and Carpenter (10).

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS    
• Southwest will take on the Aggies Tuesday in what will be its sixth game of the season after coming off a home win against Northern New Mexico. 
• Last season, the Cardinals finished the season with a 12-16 overall record and a 8-12 mark against RRAC opponents.
• The Mustangs will be led by guard Anthony Scott. He is currently averaging the team's high 13.8 points per game.
• Southwest is led by James Voight who is entering his second season as the Mustangs head coach. He is (15-18) in his tenure as head coach.