SERIES RECORD: This is the seventh meeting between New Mexico State and Northern Colorado, with it even at 3-3. Northern Colorado claimed the first two game in the series on Dec. 18 & 19, 1941, when the Bears beat the Aggies in Las Cruces 36-31 in overtime and 35-30 respectively. NM State won 58-45 in Las Cruces in 1961, but lost to the Bears at the Pan Am Center 82-80 on Feb. 19, 2011. NM State has won the last two 89-75 in Greeley on Nov. 12, 2011, and last season at the Pan Am 67-63 on Nov. 20, 2013.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Tuesday’s game can be heard live on the Aggie Sports Network and over the Las Cruces radio airwaves on KSNM, 98.7 with NM State Hall of Famer Jack Nixon with the call. The game is being televised AggieVision with Adam Young and Rus Bradburd providing the commentary.
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB: Live stats will be available for fans at www.nmstatesports.com at no cost all season long. Fans can click on the ‘Live Events’ link at the top of the NMStateSports.com home page or go to the men’s basketball schedule page and click on the ‘related links’ tab to access the live stats.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Get all the updates of Aggie Athletics on Twitter and Facebook. Get in-game statistics and in-game updates on Twitter @NMStateAggies. Find out about all Aggie Athletics promotions and events on Facebook (NM State Aggies and The Aggie Student-Athlete). Also, new this season, follow us on Instagram at NMStateAggies for photos from all the Aggie athletics.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: It’s the third time in the Marvin Menzies era that NM State has opened 0-2, with the others being 2009-10 (lost at St. Mary’s 100-68 and to New Mexico 97-87, went on to go 22-12, WAC Tournament Champions and NCAA berth) and 2007-08 (lost at Ohio 80-72 and at No. 13 Duke 86-61, went on to go 21-14 WAC Co-Champions). NM State has not started a season 0-3 since 1965-66 when the Aggies dropped five straight on the way to a 4-22 season under coach Jim McGregor.
NM State looks to complete the rare four-peat in 2014-15, as the Aggies have won the WAC Tournament title and participated in the NCAA Tournament three years in a row. NM State returns honorable mention AP All-American and WAC Player of the Year Daniel Mullings. Last year, the 6-2 senior guard averaged a team-high 16.8 points per game and led the Aggies with 65 steals, which ranked second in the conference. The 2014-15 Aggies have a unique blend of senior leadership and young talent. There are four returning seniors and a group of seven newcomers that will compete for playing time.
Along with the return of Mullings, the Aggies welcome back a pair of experienced seniors in Tshilidzi Nephawe and DK Eldridge. Last season, Nephawe averaged 11.1 points per contest and tied for a team-high 7.8 rebounds a game. Eldridge averaged 11.2 points per game to go along with 4.5 assists per contest.
LOOKING BACK: For the second straight game, New Mexico State dug itself a first half hole that it couldn’t climb out of, as the Aggies dropped an 83-71 decision at Saint Mary’s early Tuesday morning as part of the ESPN Tipoff Marathon.
The Aggies trailed by 14 at the half to the Gaels and later by 21 early in the second, before making a run to threaten the game in the final minutes.
The Gaels won their 30th straight game at McKeon Pavilion with the victory.
NM State was again paced by senior guard Daniel Mullings, who led the Aggies with 18 points and six rebounds, while being credited with two steals. The Aggies also got 17 points from senior Remi Barry, while sophomore Ian Baker added 11 points.
Saint Mary’s was paced by transfer grad student guard Aaron Bright with 21 points. Senior Brad Waldow double-doubled with 16 points and 12 rebounds, as senior Garrett Jackson also scored 16 points.
ABOUT THE BEARS: Northern Colorado is coming off a 78-70 loss at Wyoming on Sunday, after starting the year with a win over NCAA Division II Black Hills State (S.D.) 83-62.
The Bears are led by guard Cameron Michael (6-5, So., Loveland, Colo.) who is averaging 17.0 points a game, that included 21 at Wyoming. Forward Cody McDavis (6-8, Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) averages 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds for the Bears, while guard Tevin Svihovec (6-2, Sr., Kingwood, Texas) adds 12.5 points and 3.5 assists per outing.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Aggies prepare for the first of two games with I-10 rival Texas-El Paso on Saturday at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso.
The Miners (1-0), defeated Washington State 65-52 last Friday in El Paso, their only official game of the season. Forward Vince Hunter (6-8, So., Detroit, Mich.) led the way with a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds. Guard Earvin Morris (6-4, Jr., Memphis, Tenn.) scored 13 points, and guard C.J. Cooper (6-0, Sr., Chino, Calif.) contributed 11 points with five assists.
AIR CANADA: NM State returns 2013-14 honorable mention AP All-American Daniel Mullings. The 6-2, 170 pound senior from Toronto, Ontario, was the WAC Player of the Year after averaging 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He hit 46.6 percent from the floor (201-of-431) and 72.7 percent from the foul line (168-of-231). He also led the team with 1.9 steals per outing.
The WAC Preseason Player of the Year for 2014-15, Mullings has led the Aggies in scoring and rebounding in the first two outings, with 14 points, 6 rebounds at Wichita State and 18 points, 6 boards at Saint Mary’s.
Mullings is alone in 11th in career scoring at NM State, with 1,437 points. Mullings needs 11 points to join the top 10 by tying Aggie Legend Sam Lacey (1968-70) with 1,448 points.
Mullings is also targeting the Aggie record for career steals. He is currently standing third with 206, and needs three to tie and five to pass William Benjamin (1988-92) with 209 swipes in second. He is just 10 steals from tying and 11 from surpassing the NM State record of 216 held by Hearnst Leroche (2008-12). Mullings recorded 65 steals last season (1.9 per game), ranking fifth on the single season steals chart.