What: Game Ten
Who: NM State (4-5, 0-0 CUSA) vs New Mexico (6-1, 0-0 MW)
When: Tuesday, Dec. 2, 7 p.m. MT
Where: Albuquerque, N.M. - The Pit (15,411)

THE OPENING TIP
• The last time out, NM State came out with a win at home against Southwes 84-49 to become 4-5 on the season.  
• The Aggies are looking to get a much needed road win against the Lobos in the battle of I-25 in first match up between both teams since 2021.
• The Lobos' are coming off a home victory against LA Tech 74-65. Both teams are looking forward to the first battle of the rivalry match up of the season. 
 
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 CONNECTING BEYOND THE ARC
• The Aggies drained 11 triples on just 20 attempts on Tuesday night verus Southwest which was their best three-point shooting percentage of the season. NM State is currently ranked 99th in three point percentage this season with 35.8%.

RAWLS DISHING OUT DIMES
• Jordan Rawls is showing great handle of the ball this season and is leading the Aggies 37 total assist for the season. He is currently ranked 47th in the country in total assist.

KAOSI'S BREAKOUT
• Kaosi Ezeagu posted a career-high 17 points against Louisville on 8-9 from the field. The 89% success rate is also the best by an Aggie this season. Also, This past Tuesday against Southwest he recorded his first career double-double at NM State dropping 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. 

THE BATTLE OF I-25
• This will be the first of two games between the rivals this season with number one happening in Albuquerque. Since 1982 there has been 86 meetings between both teams with New Mexico coming out on top 50-36. The last time both teams played was on Dec. 6, 2021, and the Aggies came out on top in an overtime thriller 78-76.

SCOUTING THE LOBOS'    
• The Lobos' will take on the Aggies Saturday night in what will be its seventh game of the season after coming off a home win against LA Tech 74-65. 
• Last season, the Lobos' finished the season with a 22-12 overall record and a 8-10 mark against Mountain West opponents.
• The Lobos' will be led by guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. He is currently averaging the team's high 18.2 points per game.
• New Mexico is led by Richard Pitino who is entering his third season as the Lobos' head coach. He is (41-32) in his tenure as head coach.