Men: New Mexico State at New Mexico
*Steals ^Blocks
What you need to know about the Aggies: The Aggies’ completely rebuilt roster and coaching staff, as one might expect, has had ups and downs in the early going this season. They hung tough for one half in the season opener on the road against Kentucky, then lost by 40 (86-46). They took Mountain West’s Fresno State to overtime in the Cancun Challenge, but lost (81-76). And last week was a gut punch of a loss at Louisville. Without their best player, NMSU led by eight points on the road at the ACC school before losing in overtime when six of their 10 available players fouled out and NMSU finished the game with just four players on the court. Seton Hall transfer Femi Odukale is the best player on the team and back after missing the Louisville game. He’s a big guard who plays physical, symbolic of the entire roster. The Aggies are scrappy and want defense to be their calling card, but lack size and depth in the front court. They’ve fouled a ton this season and opposing teams in their DI games have scored 25.6 points per game at the free-throw line.
*Steals ^Blocks
What you need to know about the Lobos: Jaelen House is back (hip injury). Donovan Dent is expected to play (back spasms in Wednesday’s game). Jamal Mashburn Jr. is out (quadriceps injury). While the injury report is still a key update for any team, it hasn’t seemed to matter most nights for the Lobos. With one player out or hobbled, they’ve been lucky to have another step up and plug in quality minutes for whomever they’ve been replacing. The Lobos’ adjusted defensive efficiency as of Friday afternoon, according to KenPom.com, is 39th out of 362 Division I teams, second best in the Mountain West, behind San Diego State. That’s a far cry from most defensive ratings since the Steve Alford years and not the identity of this program, which is still very good offensively (55th out of 362), but clearly much better on the defensive side of the ball with frontcourt newcomers Nelly Junior Joseph and JT Toppin both blocking shots and coming up with steals with regularity, not to mention both rebounding, and finishing opponents’ possessions, at a high rate.