It’s a big week, starting tonight vs. Gaels
Aggies then come to Duke City to face Lobos
Two mid-major opponents this week nonetheless present a major opportunity for New Mexico State men’s basketball.
The Aggies tonight get a long-awaited home date with Saint Mary’s, potentially a significant résumé builder if New Mexico State (2-0) can somehow defeat the Gaels (2-0).
Then it’s a Saturday night date at rival New Mexico, which NMSU coach Chris Jans admits that is “probably not ideal” for a road opener.
“But yes, it’s a huge week. When you look at your schedule, there’s always certain weeks that are bigger than others because of who you’re playing,” he said.
First things first. Saint Mary’s is 5-1 all time vs. the Aggies, including a 92-74 win last year in Moraga, Calif. SMC lost five significant contributors (including former Eldorado and UNM guard Cullen Neal) from last year’s 30-6 team that won 19 straight games. The Gaels are picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference behind perennial champ Gonzaga.
Meanwhile, the Gaels won their first two games of 2018-19 by an average of 24.5 points, including a 92-63 blowout Sunday of Utah Valley. While their roster remains dotted with numerous Down Under players (five from Australia, one from New Zealand), the eye-opener so far has been 6-foot-1 guard Jordan Ford of Folsom, Calif. The All-WCC selection has averaged 29 points through the first two games, including a career-high 35 on Sunday.
“They keep putting different names on the backs of the jerseys and get the same results,” said Jans, adding that he has “tremendous respect” for Gaels coach Randy Bennett, in his 18th season.
Unquestionably, the Aggies (and the Lobos, who will face Saint Mary’s later this season) would love to emulate the Gaels’ plug-and-play system that succeeds as players come and players go. For now, Jans may still be learning who can play best, but those to plug in are numerous — perhaps even too many.
In their 96-69 home win Friday over UTEP, Clayton Henry’s 14 points led five double-figure scorers. The eye-opening stat, however, is that the Aggies used 12 players and outscored the rebuilding Miners a staggering 52-3 from the bench. In the season opener earlier last week, 13 Aggies saw action and helped forge a 33-22 scoring edge from reserves in a 73-56 win over North Dakota State.
No player has yet seen more than 27 minutes that Henry played against UTEP. The glass half-empty thought is that everybody is still auditioning, and a rotation hasn’t been set. The glass half-full? “We hope it will help us with fresh legs,” Jans said. “Obviously it will help from a foul(-trouble standpoint). In the end, we’d like to play 9 or 10 instead of 11 and 12. But it’s a blessing to be able to play that many guys quality minutes in D-1 games . ... In foul situations it’s good to know these guys have played.”