At NMSU, last year’s loss leads to changes

LAS CRUCES — New Mexico State basketball coach Chris Jans said last year’s NCAA Tournament loss against Clemson felt like the Aggies were playing five on three at times.

The Aggies have tweaked their style of play and rotation this season to try to spread the court. “We went into the offseason feeling like Clemson really choked us and we always had two guys on the floor who couldn’t shoot the ball,” Jans said. “They just basically played zone on two guys and it was really hard for us to run our offense.”

The result has resulted in a 30-win season and a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance for Jans.

The Aggies were seeded No. 12 in the Midwest Region and will play No. 5 seed Auburn at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The game will be broadcast on TNT.

Clemson made life difficult for former Aggies guard Zach Lofton last season in the half court. The Aggies didn’t have many answers for easy offense if Lofton was not making shots.

NMSU is making 7.1 3-point shots per game with six players shooting at least 33 percent from 3-point range.

In Saturday’s WAC Tournament championship game victory over Grand Canyon, the Aggies made 17 3-pointers. WAC Tournament MVP Trevelin Queen was 6 of 11 from 3-point range against Grand Canyon.

“This year we have at least four and sometimes five players who can

shoot the 3 and spread the floor for us better,” Jans said. “I think we are in a better position to play against these types of teams.”

Kansas in the other half of draw

While he is in no way looking past the Auburn Tigers, Jans said he was instantly aware that, should New Mexico State advance past Thursday, the Aggies would play the winner of the No. 4 Kansas/No. 13 Northeastern game.

The Aggies lost a 63-60 game to then No. 2 Kansas on Dec. 8 in a neutral court in Kansas City, Mo. NMSU held a two-point halftime lead and Aggies guard JoJo Zamora had a 3-pointer attempt at the buzzer rim out.

“It was a good test for us to see where we were at,” said Aggies center Eli Chuha. “We felt like we should have won that game but sometimes it’s just how the ball drops. We feel like we will be OK. We just have to play our game.”

Kansas is 25-9 and will take on 23-10 Northeastern out of the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Kansas game follows New Mexico State’s first-round game on TNT.