Bulletin in the Zone

Jonathan Gibson now in Isreal

2011-01-21T14:50:00.002-07:00

Jonathan Gibson is no longer with Oyak Renault in Turkey but is now on the roster of Ironi Askelon in the Israeli Premier league. Gibson had been a starter for Oyak Renault averaging 31.5 minutes, 18.1 points on 50.7 percent from the floor and 40 percent from downtown.
Both teams are at the bottom of their respective leagues, maybe JG can do some good in Israel.

About that rebounding thing

2011-01-21T09:40:00.001-07:00

To follow up on my earlier post.

Hamidu Rahman: 277 minutes, 78 rebounds. That equals 1 rebound every 3.55 minutes.

Granted he’s been injured.

Chile Nephawe: 354 minutes, 86 rebounds – 1 rebound every 4.12 minutes.

I love Chili, but he needs to get after the boards better.

BJ West 132 minutes, 50 rebounds – 1 rebound every 2.64 minutes.

Food for thought.

Thoughts on the game at Nevada

2011-01-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts on the Aggies’ 90-71 loss to Nevada on Thursday, Jan. 20.

New Mexico State’s centers Hamidu Rahman and Chili Nephawe: A total of 3 rebounds. Pathetic. Dario Hunt had 12 rebounds, including 4 on offense.

Maybe it’s time to play BJ West more. At least he goes after the boards.

Bandja Sy and Tyrone Watson were a combined 3 for 13 from the field, we need to find some consistency from someone not named Troy. Bandja did a nice job rebounding, though.

After Gillenwater’s technical, the Wolfpack went on 7-0 run.

I was glad to hear that Menzies was mad, but he needs to learn to get his team to play with some passion. I think he missed a chance to get the Aggies fired up. Sometimes his coaching style is too cerebral, too much Xs and Os and not enough fire and brimstone.

Don’t be afraid to get a “T” once in a while Marvin!

Don't leave those ears unguarded

2011-01-20T15:19:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite moves in basketball is the pump fake. Not only does a good fake usually lead to an easy basket, it also makes the opposing player look like an idiot.
One of the all-time best Aggies at the pump fake was Gilbert Wilburn, who played from 1984-86 and was all-Big West Conference in his senior season.
Wilburn was only about 6-5 and built a lot like current Aggie Tyrone Watson. He was a great scorer, averaging 23.6 points his junior year and 19.1 as a senior.
A lot of his scoring prowess was due to his faking ability.
One fake – out of their shoes.
Two fakes – out of their socks.
Three fakes? You bet – maybe four sometimes.
Sadly, during his time at NMSU, Wilburn lost his mother, and after traveling home to California, he struggled through his first few games back in Las Cruces. It seemed to me that the pump fake was missing from his game.
Wilburn didn’t know me from Adam, but one evening at a restaurant on El Paseo we passed by each other.
“Gilbert,” I said, “don’t forget the extra fake,” hoping to plant a little bug in his ear.
The next game he was back in form, leaving opponents’ sneakers all over the court – figuratively speaking. I’ll probably never know if our chance encounter actually made a difference, but as an Aggie fan, it’s a memory I’ll always cherish.
One current Aggie who has the knack for pump faking is Troy Gillenwater, but since his recent injuries I haven’t seen as much of it.
I asked him about it at the Aggies’ press conference on Tuesday, abandoning my role as a journalist in favor of a shameless bug planter.
“The ankle has kind of slowed me down from jumping the way I want to jump, I’m not as explosive as I can be,” Gillenwater said. “I think the more games that we play it will get better.
“You’ll start seeing some more up fakes and finishes,” he said with a grin.
The Aggies faced Nevada at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, and travel on to play league-leading Utah State at 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22. The games in on ESPNU.
You can bet that during both games, I’ll be listening to Jack Nixon’s call and hoping to hear the sound of Wolfpack and Utag sneakers hitting the floor.
Oh how I love those pump fakes – excuse me “up fakes.”
Now, if I can just get Watson and Wendell McKines to watch some old film of Wilburn …
Oh well, I guess that’s enough bug planting for now.

Young in Serbia

2010-12-16T11:02:00.001-07:00

It has been reported that Jahmar Young is playing basketball in Spain, however from what I have been able to find on the Internet he is actually playing in Serbia for Crvena Zvezda in the Serbian A league. He is starting for the team wearing the No. 6. On Dec. 11, he helped his team earn a share of the league lead with a game high 25 points including 9 of 9 from the line.

Give the refs a break

2010-12-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

The men in the black and white stripes are not very popular in Las Cruces right now.
Fans of the Las Cruces High School Bulldawgs are still outraged at what they see as a blown call at the end of the state semifinal football game in Albuquerque, Saturday, Nov. 27.
Bulldawg Geoff Segovia believes he caught a “Hail Mary” pass in the end zone to win the game against the Manzano Monarchs.
The referees didn’t see it that way, and Manzano prevailed 35-31, and will face the Mayfield Trojans in Albuquerque’s Wilson Stadium at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4.
In the Aggie-Miner game at Pan American Stadium Tuesday, Nov. 30, officials seemed quick to call technical and flagrant fouls against the home team, but appeared to allow the visiting Miners to play “physical” defense.
Though New Mexico State’s backup center Abdoulaye N’doye was called for a flagrant foul on hot-shooting Miner Randy Culpepper in the first half of that game, an equally physical foul that laid Aggie Christian Kabongo on the floor in the second half was missed by the referees. That quickly led to a confrontation that sent Aggie Chili Nephawe and Miner John Bohannon to their locker rooms early.
I can understand why fans gather around the coffee machine the next day and complain about the calls. Some of the calls do seem implausible.
But personally, I don’t buy the biased referee meme.
Like everyone else, I like to yell at them. Call their mothers names. Maybe recommend an optometrist or two.
But I have never walked around in a referee’s shirt. I have never tried to run up and down the court chasing a bunch of human gazelles for two hours. I can’t imagine how they keep enough focus to see where so-and-so’s feet are when a pass is caught or a foul is committed.
It’s easy to sit on the sidelines or in front of a television and second-guess a call made on the field or on the floor.
While it’s only natural for sports enthusiasts to pull up a replay on YouTube to vindicate their point of view, fans should stop and consider that those guys making the calls are human, too.
There may be an occasional bad apple out there that tries to influence a game, but I think that is a rare case.
Maybe I just have a naïve view of human nature.
Call them names, if you want. Insult their family members and seeing-eye dogs. But spare me the conspiracy theories.

WAC Tournament format changed

2010-08-06T10:28:00.006-06:00

Here is a press release from NMSU on the new format:

WAC Commissioner Karl Benson announced that the league will change its postseason men’s and women’s basketball tournament format, effective for the 2011 tournament.  The change was recommended by both the WAC men’s and women’s basketball coaches and approved by the WAC Board of Directors earlier this summer.  The change will reward teams based on regular season success, giving the top two teams byes into the tournament semifinals. 
“I thought it was a very good direction to move into,” New Mexico State men’s basketball head coach Marvin Menzies said. “A lot of other conferences have used that model, and it seemed to be successful for them. After visiting with some of those coaches, it was evident to me that they liked it and in our position, hopefully, with where we will finish in conference, it will give us an advantage.”

 Under the format, the tournament begins on Wednesday with two men’s and two women’s games featuring the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed and No. 6 versus No. 7. The winners then advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal matchups to play the No. 4 and No. 3 seeds. The winners of those games then advance to Friday’s semifinals against the top two seeds.  The change also results in two men’s and two women’s games being played each day of the tournament except for Saturday, which features the men’s and women’s championship games. 

Aggie women’s head coach Darin Spence said he was also happy about the location change for the tournament.

“I think it is an exciting time for the league to play the tournament at a neutral site,” he said. “I think it is time to give it a shot. I know our fans like going to Las Vegas, so I think the change is good.”

 The 2011 WAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament is March 9-12 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas and includes the top eight teams in the regular season standings.

The release said tickets will be available from the WAC soon.

My only concern is that it will take away a game from teams that may be struggling to reach enough wins to attract post-season bids. Sometimes the second though fourth place teams may have a record like 19-12 or 21-9 and another victory in WAC tournament play could get them to 20 wins of maybe more.

Any thoughts?

Interview with La Roche

2010-08-06T10:19:00.004-06:00

Writer Jimmy Courrier has a nice interview with Aggie point guard Hernst Laroche in this weeks Las Cruces Bulletin. Click on the link above and when you get to the website click the sports button on the left side of the page, then click 'Return to Canada."

A bit or two

2010-07-29T13:10:00.004-06:00

Apparently Marvin Menzies will be returning from a trip to Germany on Sunday, Aug. 1 and the Aggies will begin practice for their trip to Canada on Sunday or Monday. They are allowed a certain number of practices before making trips out of the country.

Jahmar Young tidbit

2010-06-04T13:32:00.002-06:00

Apparently Jahmar Young will participate in a workout for the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, June 5.
Click here for the post.
This is right in the back yard of the WAC's premeir blogger.
Hopefully we can get the scoop from PTW ASAP
(Hint, hint)

NMSU signs Kabongo

2010-04-30T16:47:00.001-06:00

From NM State Sports: New Mexico State men’s basketball coach Marvin Menzies has signed Christian Kabongo to a National Letter of Intent, he announced Friday, April 30. Kabongo is a 6-4 combination guard from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

“(Assistant coach) Paul (Weir) has done an excellent job by bringing Christian Kabongo to the table,” head coach Marvin Menzies said. “Christian is the exact student-athlete that we need in order to replace Jonathan (Gibson) and Jahmar (Young). He is an athletic, scoring guard that should also give us quality minutes at the point guard position.”

Kabongo joins the Aggies this fall from Central Commerce Collegiate Institute in Toronto. The Hoop Scoop named him the No. 4 ranked fifth-year player in the Class of 2010. As a sophomore, Kabongo scored a personal-best 58 points in a single game. In July 2008, Kabongo and his AAU team, Grassroots Canada, won the adidas Super 64 Tournament.

In addition to Kabongo, the 2010 Class includes Tshilidzi Nephawe, a 6-10 center from Johannesburg, South Africa, that signed during the fall period.

Young, Patton off NMSU basketball team

2010-04-13T12:23:00.000-06:00

New Mexico State men’s basketball head coach Marvin Menzies has announced Tuesday, April 13, that junior guard Jahmar Young is not returning for his senior season and redshirt freshman guard Jacoby Patton has been dismissed from the team indefinitely.

“Jahmar Young will forgo his senior season at New Mexico State University,” Menzies said. “He is in the process of hiring an agent and will pursue his professional career immediately. We wish Jahmar success in his future endeavors.

“On another note, Jacoby Patton has been dismissed from the team indefinitely,” he said.

Well done, Aggies

2010-03-26T11:30:00.002-06:00

The following is from the print edition of the Las Cruces Bulletin, and is Publisher David McCollum's lead editorial in the March 26 edition.
Well done, Aggies
Men's basketball team came alive in WAC and NCAA tournaments
For the past two weeks, I was privileged to follow the New Mexico State University Aggie men’s basketball team as they won the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Reno, Nev., and competed in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Spokane, Wash.
The Aggies represented themselves and their university well throughout the tournaments. Our entire community should be proud of the team’s accomplishments with a 22-12 record, second place in the WAC regular season, a WAC Tournament championship and a painfully close 70-67 loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament to last year’s NCAA national championship runner-up, Michigan State.
Under coach Marvin Menzies, the Aggies stepped up their game big time for the tournaments. After closing the season with disappointing losses to Nevada and Utah State, which dropped the Aggies to a No. 3 seed in the WAC tournament, the Aggies were not to be denied as they dominated San Jose State and out-hustled Nevada and Utah State to earn the WAC championship.
When the selection committee announced that the Aggies, as a No. 12 seed, would face Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA playoffs, few experts felt that NMSU could compete against the powerful, quick Spartans from the Big 10 conference. Also, prior to the first NCAA game, the media created an artificial “controversy” after NMSU’s Jahmar Young said he did not know who Kalin Lucas was. (Lucas just happened to be Michigan State’s star point guard.) In a subsequent press conference with Michigan State, the media exacerbated the issue by asking Lucas and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo if they felt disrespected by Young’s comments. Predictably they said “yes,” primarily because they could not believe that anyone in college basketball would not recognize Kalin Lucas by name.
Personally, I felt this brouhaha was way overblown and was unfair to Jahmar. In fact, I was interviewed by Detroit’s Fox Network about Young’s not knowing Lucas. My honest response was that, until the controversy arose, even I did not recognize Lucas’ name. Of course, the cocky Northerners were shocked beyond belief by my comments and suggested that I am not a true fan of college basketball. (I think those who know me will disagree.)
With this unnecessary controversy aside, the Aggies remained confident of their ability to compete with any other team in the tournament, including Michigan State. Aggie senior Jonathan Gibson kept the Aggies in the game with three 3-pointers in the first half, although the Aggies trailed 42-29 after 20 minutes of play. In the second half, the Aggies fought back with ferocious team rebounding and sharp shooting from Young and Troy Gillenwater. Except for about 500 green-clad Spartan fans, the remaining 10,000 fans vociferously supported the Aggies. In fact, with the incredible crowd support, the atmosphere in the Spokane arena felt like we were in the Pan American Center.
A couple of tough calls by the officials late in the game allowed Michigan State to take a three-point lead and denied the Aggies any real shot at winning the game. Gibson’s long 3-point attempt with just a couple of seconds left was perfectly on line with the basket, but was slightly short and bounced off the front of the rim. The hard-fought game was over. However, our “ne’er say die” Aggies had played their hearts out. One statistic that showed NMSU’s team effort is that they tied Michigan State in total rebounds at 40 each. And the Spartans were ranked second nationally in rebounding.
I understand that Las Cruces came alive in support of the Aggies, and there was not a single item of crimson Aggie gear to be found in any local retail stores. Fans are optimistic about the possibilities for next year, as the team loses only Gibson and back-ups Tray Britt and Kelly Merker. Hopefully, all returners will make their grades, and we can look forward to another exciting basketball year starting next November. We also hope that the fans will once again fill the Pan Am to support the Aggies throughout the season.
For now we can relax, watch the final rounds of the tournament and feel really good about this year’s Aggies – the 2010 WAC champions. Congratulations to coach Menzies and the entire Aggie team.

Basketball junkie bait

2010-03-17T22:17:00.004-06:00

Such indignation, rending of garments, gnashing of teeth!
The outrage machine in Michigan is frothing at the mouth that Jahmar Young has not heard of Kalin Lucas.
How dare those New Mexico peasants not know their place. Don't they realize that Lucas is famous?
Who does Jahmar Young think he is by not being properly obsequious to his betters in the power conferences?
Never heard of Kalin Lucas? It's an outrage!
Yeah, whatever.
If Lucas is such a good point guard why does Michigan State turn the ball over so much?
Anyway, here's a fairly complete transcript of the press conference at which Jahmar dared to admit he lives is a world not centered on Michigan State basketball.
If you read the whole thing you are a certified basketball addict. Seek treatment immediately!
OK, you can wait till early April, but no longer!
On those who have doubted the NMSU program:

JY: As far as doubters, we just have our own fan base and as a team we know what we have to do. The doubters really don’t concern us because we don’t know who they are. If they come to light we still don’t care. Wee we got to play we come to win the game

JY: I don’t even know anything about Michigan State not at all.

Wen: As soon as this is over we’re going to start looking at some film and get ready, get prepared.

About the Michigan State program:

Wen: There a perennial power. They’re a powerhouse – they got a big name. When I think of those types of schools they had to start from somewhere. As soon as they built the school it wasn’t like “Oh this is going to be a powerhouse,” they had to start from somewhere and we feel like we got something going and we’re looking to make a name for ourselves here. It’s going to be a good game and we have as much talent as anybody in the country and it’s time for us to go out and show and prove it.

Does beating teams like Nevada and Utah State give you confidence going into the tournament?

JY: We always had the confidence, we just put it together late. We had little bumps and bruises. We’ll be okay. We’ll put it together now we know what we want. Now we know what we got to do to win.

How has the team stayed focused?

JY: Wendell and Troy came back. That was a big boost believe it or not. People say we were OK but it really showed when they came back how vital they were for the team. For the most part we got our full team back. We haven’t been able to go full force with any team. Now we got our team we are ready for whatever. I can say for the whole team we came to play and it’s a battle. We’re not laying down for anyone. We don’t care who you are or where you’re from you better watch out.

Big 10 is known for playing physical basketball …

Wen: What am I known for?

JY: We’re inner-city kids we’re physical all our life.

Is that a good thing?

JY: Yeah.

Wendell I know your not going to shy away from them.

Wen: Push me, I’m pushing you back, that’s all I got to say. We’re not, we’re supposed to be intimidated? That’s not a characteristic of anybody on this team. That’s not a characteristic of our coaching staff. We’re not here to say it’s going to be easy, we know it’s going to be a task. We’re not laying down. We’re going to come out fighting.

You guys can play multiple styles, is that an advantage for you guys?

Wen: We are just going to do whatever it takes to win because we’re all great players and we just want to go out and claw to win. We got to do whatever it takes to win.

I that part of your strategy, just do whatever it takes to win?

JY: By any means necessary.

Wen: By any means, and we all got that mentality. It took us this long to find out that it’s easier for us to win when we’re playing together because we all got the same mentality.

No matter who we play against we like our five against anybody.

Coming together late, is that going to make it harder for Michigan State?

JY: Any other team, whoever. Michigan State is just the first team we’re going to play. We don’t have any cut cards, We didn’t pick the draft, we didn’t pick the brackets. We didn’t say we wanted to play Michigan State, they lined ’em up and we’re going to play ’em.

Jahmar at the selection show you said your wanted Michigan State.

JY: I had a feeling you know, when I was younger I’ve got family from Flint, Michigan and Grand Rapids, so when I seen the Green I just stood up. Oh, how ironic would this be. I knew, I had a gut instinct and this is how I was when I was younger, and hey, I’m ready for it.

They have a pretty big name in Kalin Lucas …

JY: Who?

Kalin Lucas is their point guard, you’ve never heard of him before?

JY: Naw.

They have some good guards is that something that your looking forward to going up against?

JY: Of course. We don’t shy away from battles we like tough games. It’s also a plus to play a name, what’s his name?

Kalin Lucas

JY: Kalin Lucas? It’s always good to play a name like that, I’ve really never heard of him but is he’s good it’ll show We got Hernst Laroche, Jahmar Young, Wendell McKines, Troy Gillenwater, Jonathan Gibson let’s go on we’ll be OK (Paul Weir walks in the room) we got Paul Weir as our coach. So that’s our main focus, we don’t care about names we’re going to bring our game not our name. This is really from the bottom of my heart.

I mean this, this is personal you know, everybody say don’t take it personal this is business, this is both. This is personal first, just because how you say the name, I’ve never heard the name. This means a lot to me, as well as my team.

Wen: He’s right.

On giving the coach a terrible time.

Of course we have. You know we’re just kids who think we know it all at times. You know we’re just missing our shots, we should run this play. Coach is calling the play we’re just not executing it. It puts a little doubt within ourselves and at the same time we got to give the coach all the credit.

He could have lost all his hair dealing with us but he’s still managed to look the way he does and all the credit goes to coach for believing in us, not benching us and just the uncertainty we had at the beginning of the year, everybody got in trouble. I was in trouble, Wendell was in trouble, Troy was in trouble. It was minute but everybody blew it up, people took it out of proportion, but we’re here now. For everybody that was on the blog talking bad about us now we want respect, now we be here and I really don’t care. We’re here and we’re her to stay.

You got some swagger, can you explain the way you guys play? I know Michigan State is trying to figure out what team you may be similar to they’ve already played this year.

JY: You know what? Really its nobody because your got a guard from the east coast, a guard from Canada, another small forward from the west coast. Another guy that’s a starter comes off the bench comes from the East Coast. It’s so many talents mixed as one as a unit.

We’re just like scrappy little lions, we’re not going to give up. We’re going to come with everything we got. I’ve never seen Michigan State play, I’ve seen them in previous years. I don’t understand their style of play, I know they rebound good, I heard about them being No.1 one in the Big Ten but other than that, we’ve got to rebound too, so we’ve just got to put a body on them like they’re going to do us.

What are your expectations for the game?

JY: Expectations? Play hard, win big.

If you guys make their shots they wont get a chance to rebound.

Wen: Exactly

JY: That’s it

Wen: Exactly

At that point the players left the room and Coach Marvin Menzies entered.

MM: Trophy and everything, huh?

What’s your reaction to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s statement?

MM: Just very happy. He gave me a call yesterday and we talked for a little bit. Actually when he called me I didn’t realize the proclamation was going to be “lets all cheer for the Aggies on Friday.” We just visited for a while and talked about what it meant to the state and it was a nice, pleasant surprise.

Do you know if the governor is going to be in Spokane or San Jose?

MM. I don’t know, hopefully he’ll be in St. Louis next weekend.

Clicking of cameras.

MM: Is this a photo session or a press conference?

Coach Izzo said he doesn’t have any regrets about the way he’s handled things, like you guys he went through some adversity this year.

MM: I’m kind of oblivious to their whole deal. I get in a sphere of what is New Mexico State and what we need to deal with. I’ve got enough on my plate to worry about. I don’t have enough time to even know the dynamics of what different kids were suspended for.

It’s amazing sometimes, you talk to other coaches who know so much about what’s going on at other programs and it just blows my mind cause I don’t, I have no clue of what they’ve been through or what they’re going through.

That’s obviously part of what being a head coach is – putting out fires during the course of the year so you get to the tournament, that’s what I was asking.

MM: You’ve heard me say a thousand times how a season is like a lifetime.

In life you have adversity and the same thing with a season. You have adversity and I think how you deal with it is a testament to kid’s characters evolving.

Anyone could say “well you do this, you should do that.”

That’s easy, the tough part is actually doing it and repairing and learning, growing from any type of adversity. I think sometimes when you don’t have adversity and things are always easy going and you’re winning a bunch of games early and everything’s going well, then all of a sudden you hit a bit of a wall and you haven’t had to deal with it earlier in the year. Then you’re getting a lesson late in life sometimes when you would have been better suited to get it earlier.

At least for us a lot of the trials that we’ve had were timely if there is such a thing.

Have you been able to watch much Michigan State in the season?

MM: None. A couple of games just casually when they were playing a friend’s team or something like that. I saw the Minnesota game and I’m friendly with Tubby, obviously we go back and have the same lineage and Joe Esposito director of operations there is one of my best friends so I watched that game. A little bit of the Florida game. Richard Pitino and I know Billy and we’re all from that Patino family.

The two games I did see they lost, so I hope that didn’t jade my perception of who we have to face.

We’re on the grind now as far as getting our preparation together and we’ve been living in front of the TV trying to get a good feel of what’s going to be in store for us Friday.

You’re going to watch at least one more Michigan State game.

MM: Yeah, that one will be. I won’t even consider that watching, I’ll be evaluating that one while it unfolds.

JY and Wendell are pretty confident. Are they looking forward to getting NMSU out there?

MM: I think so, I think both of them are real Aggies, they got a lot of pride.

We’ve been talking about that from day one when we came here as freshmen, continuing to work on the branding and the labeling and building the program an all those lessons that we talked about and it’s nice to see them be such a significant part of this development. It’s taken a little while and we’ve had our ups and downs but that’s like any program, any business, anything you’ve got to go through some stuff to make it worth it when you come out on the other side.

JY was definitely confident.

MM: He came in with confidence. He’s like Jason (Groves) said, he’s one of those guys that he just he works so hard on his game, he’s a true gym rat. You’ve heard me say before, and when you have that type of work ethic and passion you’re going to have confidence when the time comes.

Does he really not know Kalin like he says?

MM: He probably really doesn’t. I’m sure he’s heard his name, I don’t know. JY is a different character, man, he’s focused, man, that kid is going to be successful and he’s going to make a lot of money one day.

How is Hamidu Rahman's leg?

MM: Hamidu’s not as gimpy as he was right after the game and the next day he was very sore cause he had a cramp that just wouldn’t stop cramping. So he ended up having some soreness the next day. The professionals tell me that he’ll be fine. We’ll see how it goes today up and down the floor and we’ll get a better feel.

How would you describe Michigan State?

MM: Tough, well coached, disciplined, blue collar, very good rebounding team, very good execution team. They run very well when given the opportunity. They have a lot of positives in their résumé so we got to be prepared to play.

The two teams seem to mirror each other.

MM: We’ve got some things in common. I don’t know that we’re as tough as they are on the glass and as well trained.

I think that’s one of coach Izzo’s trademarks, his ability to get his teams to emphasize the rebounding portion of the game. We don’t do that at the same level that he does we spread our (emphasis) around a little bit more. They’re one of the best in the country at it as a result. It’s something they focus on every day.

Is this a strong of a five seed as your could play in this tournament?

MM: Of the five seeds, it’s my opinion they’re the strongest, but this is all speculation at this point. The first round is “go out, lace ’em up, play your best ball.”

Hopefully you’re playing very well at this time of year. We always talk about that. This is when you want to be playing your best ball. We’re doing that and whether that’s good enough to get another victory, you know, our mantra is to just win one more. That hasn’t changed, that was our mantra through the year. We’ll stay on target with that .

How many fans would you like to see out there?

MM: As many as possible. I think well get some people to cheer for us just because we’re the twelve seed, which is fine with me. I could care less why you’re yelling for us, just yell for us.

We look forward to having support and we’re bring a good group with us, I have some family and friends coming out who are pretty loud individuals, I don’t know how much they’ll be able to impact the crowd but it’ll be fun and it’ll be a great environment to play in.

Tickets are selling lie crazy now.

MM: I’ve heard that. I haven’t kept up on that all that much, I thought we had a great showing for what we had to bring to the table for the WAC tournament. Our crowd was phenomenal. We weren’t the biggest crowd or the largest in terms of numbers, but we were definitely into it and passionate. It seemed like every fan there was a real fan and invested and hung out after the game and went to the celebration with us and the party after and the whole deal.

It was really a nice high and a great environment and hopefully we can keep that growing and that’s part of the paradigm were trying to build here in Las Cruces as well.

Does Las Cruces see you in a different light now?

MM: I don’t know, I guess. I know that winning does a lot for a program.

Whether they look at me as an individual now who is a better coach all of a sudden or – I don’t know how much can change in a week – but if their perception has changed for the better and that gets more people out, I’m all for it.

We’ve got something in place here that’s been going and growing in the right direction and everybody keeps telling me I’m the figurehead.

But I don’t lace it up, I think it’s all about the kids. I think Aggie nation is about a nation it’s not about an individual.

When I leave here – if I ever leave – I would hope that the program would continue in the direction that we’ve started it in and I don’t think any corporation, or business, or team, or program, or athletic department should be affected by one person to the point where they are the identity of that program.

If someone looks at me in a better light now that I’m part of a winning project then that’s great and I’ll take the accolades humbly, but I’m still the same guy they hired three years ago.

Compare the style of play in the Big Ten and the WAC. Any team you’ve played so far that’s like Michigan State?

MM: Utah State, they do a lot of similar things, in reference to their style of play, of setting things up and running solid sets. They’ll run offensive sets and they’ll also run when given the opportunity on long missed shots and they’ll also take it out quick and run and so there’s some things with Utah State and now there probably – no knock on Utah State – they’re probably more athletic, probably more focused when it comes to rebounding, so they have their differences. There’s a different signature but there’s some similarities there though.

What about their guards, do you think you’ll have the success that you’ve had in the WAC pressing their guards?

MM: If we execute. This is a stage of year where It’s not about what you do it’s how well you do it. We can run the same offensive sets we’ve run all year, but are we going to execute them, are we going to execute the counters, are we going to execute being tough with the ball, are we going to execute 100 percent passes, are we taking care of the ball like we’ve done as of late?

Those are really the more critical questions rather than what we have to do differently or what we need to do to win, so to speak.

I think that any guard can be bothered, it think that Armon Johnson how he’s on the NBA board, you know, we turned him over six times, in that game but it was a team effort. The pressure was there but we got great help off the ball and he still made some shots, and so forth.

Brandon Fields went for 32 against us the game before, so obviously he was a major emphasis and our guys did a great job against him. So it’s just a matter of whether we execute the game plan and whether we have the focus in our strategy going into the game whether or not we’ll be effective and not just their guards.

You guys did a great job on Nevada’s and Utah State’s role players, was that something you were doing different defensively?

MM: It was personnel specific.

You got to remember those teams just kicked our butt. The week prior we had just lost to both those guys. Nevada was a closer game, but Utah State drilled us.

So, if that’s not motivation then you’re not a competitor. If you don’t come back out and want to do some things differently and not let those things happen again – especially when you’re in a win-or-go-home situation.

You can take coaching out of the equation for the most part. We gave them the same lesson we did the week before. They just had to make the adjustment. We tweaked some things, but it was really up to the kids and how they responded.

How big are nerves in a first-round game? They went to a national championship game just last year.

MM: Last year was last year. This year is this year.

They have a big name, we knew we were going to play somebody with a big name.

I got a lot of confident guys that are good players and they will have an opportunity to see how good they are.

I don’t think nerves will be a factor, I know there won’t be with me.

We’re young still, but we’ve got some guys that have played in big games. The UTEP rivalry, the UNM rivalry, we played at Duke two years ago, we played at Kansas.

A lot of these guys were here when we played in big-time arenas.

I don’t think nerves will be a factor, I think the best team will win.

Any word from your predecessor? (At first Menzies thought the question was about Rick Pitino, but then realized it was a question about Reggie Theus.)

MM: I talked to coach Pitino.

Yeah, Reggie and I talked, we spoke after the game, Reggie and I are friends. He’s happy for Las Cruces and for me and the family and the players. He’s looking forward to us going out and he said “Get one more and take it a step further than we did.” He’s a great guy and is very good at what he does and a good friend and he’s very supportive of us here. Very much so.

What have you learned from your coaching mentors of handling the added distractions and the outside influences of an NCAA tournament game?

MM: I talked to all my guys, and some guys that aren’t my guys that have gone through this similar situation and been successful. We reached out to some coaches that either my assistants knew or that I just reached out to that I have known and have been in similar situations where they were the underdogs and were successful just trying to follow success a little bit and get some advice and just picked some different people’s brains. I think the running theme is really to – you want to enjoy the ride but you don’t want to get so caught up in the distractions where it becomes more about the pomp and circumstance rather than the game itself.

When I was at San Diego State, to give you an example, which was a place where we didn’t go very often to the NCAA tournament – they do a much better job now – but they hadn’t been in 21 or 22 years.

You would have thought we won the final four. In fact they printed some – let me tell you how excited they were – the school printed some T-shirts that said “San Diego State Final Four.”

It was like they just lost their minds. And it was fun, and it was great, and then we go to play Illinois at the United Center and got drilled – to be nice. I do think we got caught up in the hoopla, it was like “OK we’ve reached the limit, we were done we had reached our goal.”

At Louisville and other places where you go to the NCAA tournament and its about your seed and there’s a more professional approach and your preparation and you expect and anticipate playing as deep as you can into the tournament things were handled a lot differently.

That’s how we’re going to handle it here in terms of our preparation. It’s great to have everybody maybe looking at me differently or the guys enjoying all these TV cameras that we have in here that we don’t normally have and so forth, but it’s not going to change our preparation and our focus or at least, if it’s in my control, we’re not going to let it. In fact we’re meeting today and talking on that very same point.

Yes I’ve got some input and advice and I will use it to the best of my ability to get the kids to understand we still got goals set in front of us and we’re trying to achieve those goals still.

Nevada tops Wichita State

2010-03-17T21:28:00.002-06:00

Congratulations to Nevada for their 74-70 win over Wichita State in the first round of the NIT. I guess the Shockers will try to avoid WAC teams in the future after losing at Utah State in the BracketBusters and having their unbeaten home season spoiled by the Wolf Pack.

Must see video

2010-03-15T16:31:00.001-06:00

Tom Izzo, the coach for Michigan State, speaks about the Aggies after seeing some film.

NCAA tickets on sale

2010-03-15T16:28:00.000-06:00

Tickets are now on sale for the first round of the NCAA Tournament game pitting New Mexico State versus Michigan State on Friday, March 19 at 5:20 p.m. (MDT) The price of the tickets are $65 each plus a $5 handling fee. The ticket also includes the Maryland/Houston game following the New Mexico State game. Las Cruces residents and NMSU students have priority on the available tickets. To purchase tickets for the game, call the Pan American Center Ticket Office at 575-646-1420.

2010 WAC Championship Slideshow

2010-03-14T23:19:00.001-06:00

No. 12 Aggies to battle Michigan State in Spokane, Wash.

2010-03-14T17:45:00.000-06:00

The brackets are finalized and the No. 12 seeded Aggies are heading to Spokane, Wash. to play against the No. 5 seeded Michigan State.

A nice way to end the day

2010-03-13T23:42:00.002-07:00

I think its great that the NMSU Aggies have punched their ticket to the Big Dance while New Mexico, UTEP and Utah State have to wait till tomorrow to know for sure.

Put on your dancing shoes!

2010-03-13T22:15:00.002-07:00

NMSU tops USU and wins the WAC championship 69-63.
Young tournament MVP.

Game update

2010-03-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

NMSU 28 - USU 26, Halftime

New Mexico State and Utah State are playing a game reminiscent of their last battle at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M., in which NMSU defeated the Utags 52-50. The southern Aggies are winning the battle in the paint, thanks in large part to Troy Gillenwater, who gives NM State a much-needed boost off the bench. Following a breakout game against Nevada in the WAC semifinals, Gillenwater is on his way to another good performance on 3-7 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line totaling 8 points in 13 mninutes. Jahmar Young is struggling from the field again, shooting 3-9 and racking up 7 points. The story for Utah State in the first half has been the hot shooting by Jared Quayle, who leads the Utags with 14 points on 4-6 from the field and 2-3 from three-point land. Nate Bendall is performing well, shooting 3-3 from the field and hitting 2-2 from the line for 8 points. USU's Tai Wesley is struggling in the paint, hitting only 1-6 from the field and 0-2 from the free throw line. The difference-maker for the southern Aggies in the first half has been their ability to score in the paint, racking up 18 points to USU's 10. USU's bench has only contributed 2 points. The Ags have 10.

WAC Championship - No. 3 NMSU vs. No. 1 USU

2010-03-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

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WAC Championship - No. 3 NMSU vs. No. 1 USU

Aggies in WAC final

2010-03-13T10:41:00.002-07:00

Great win for the Aggies last night. Got to give the game ball to Troydell McGillenkines.
And to Jahmar who made the shot when it really counted.

Live now: No. 3 NMSU vs. No. 2 Nevada

2010-03-12T20:48:00.002-07:00

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WAC Semifinals - NMSU vs. Nevada

Now playing: No. 1 Utah State vs. No. 4 Louisiana Tech

2010-03-12T19:04:00.074-07:00

USU 85 - LT 55, Final

Top Performers
Louisiana Tech: D. Jackson 10 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Blk
Utah State: J. Quayle 16 Pts, 5 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl

WAC semifinals: No. 1 Utah State vs. No. 4 Louisiana Tech at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev.

Stay tuned for a live blog of New Mexico State vs. Nevada.

---Begin first half---

15:27 Looks like LT's Magnum Rolle tweaked his ankle. No word yet if he'll return to the game. On a lighter note, LT's Kyle Gibson is looking much better than yesterday.

15:00 Tai Wesley got a "no-no" from the ref for being too aggressive. What ever happened to calling a foul?

14:00 Pooh Williams missed wide-open three

13:00 Jared Quayle transition layup. USU is looking fierce.

13:18 Tyler Newbold with a ridiculous three-pointer off the window/De Andre Brown returns the favor with a tray of his own.

10:57 Newbold with another three.

9:46 Brian Green missed a gimme layup. That's why he shoots threes.

6:05 Jackson Mayer three-pointer

4:55 Jared Quayle three-pointer. Is this game already over? I think so.

3:37 Second foul on Tai Wesley.

1:10 The masked man Brady Jardine with a wide-open layup. Kerry Rupp is furious.

0:00 Halftime. Even Bill Sproat completely naked eating an ice cream cone couldn't make this game interesting. I bet ESPN is glad they didn't air this one. LA Tech can't find a way to score. They're missing easy baskets in the paint and their shooters are trigger-shy or completely intimidated. On the other side, USU is executing to near perfection. Without some help from Magnum Rolle in the second half (if he returns), this one's in the bag for the Utags.

Update: Looks like Magnum Rolle is out for the game with a sprained ankle.

---2nd Half---

19:15 DeAndre Brown three. LA tech needs about 6 more of those or a miracle to get back in this one.

17:54 Tai Wesley uncontested layup. Why is LA Tech scattering like roaches when USU drives the ball? That's not even their game. What a disappointing showing by the Bulldogs.

14:40 David Jackson layup followed by Jared Quayle three-pointer. This one's a yawner.

12:40 La Tech hasn't made any adjustments on either end of the ball. You can't win games without making the right adjustments on the fly. There's no next-time for La Tech.

11:40 Brian Green three-pointer. USU remains flawless in its execution of pretty much every play they've ran so far on the offensive side. The nearest defender was a good 10 feet away.

9:15 Kyle Gibson three-pointer. He's limping getting back on D.

5:29 Foul on Olu Ashaoulu. Not much has changed. LA Tech seems to be in no hurry to get back in this game. They've conceded defeat with 5 minutes left in the game. Stew Morrill just subbed out all of USU's starters. They'll be well-rested for tomorrow's championship game.

1:13 Tyrone White layup. Make it 17 in a row for the Utags. She's a goner.

Final score, USU 85 - LT 55

Jahmar Young – All American

2010-03-12T16:04:00.002-07:00

Jahmar Young was selected for CollegeHoops.net third team high-major all-American team.
See the article here. Several other WAC players were honored including Luke Babbitt on the first team.

Breaking news: Graham fired

2010-03-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

From the Boise State website:

BOISE, Idaho - Greg Graham, the head men's basketball coach at Boise State University the past eight seasons, has been relieved of his duties and put on administrative leave. Boise State Director of Athletics Gene Bleymaier made the announcement today (March 12).

Graham took over the helm of the men's program prior to the 2002-03 season and guided the Broncos to an overall record of 142-112 during his tenure at Boise State.

This past season (2009-10) Boise State completed the season with an overall record of 15-17 and a record of 5-11 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Broncos were knocked out of the first round of the league postseason tournament this past Thursday (March 11) when regular season champion Utah State handed the team an 84-60 loss.

"We appreciate everything that Coach Graham and his staff have contributed to Boise State the past eight years," Bleymaier stated. "We felt that in the best interest of the program we needed to make a change."

Prior to joining the Bronco program, Graham was an assistant coach at the University of Oregon (1997-02 & 1982-83), St. Mary's (1992-97), San Diego State (1989-92), San Jose State (1985-89) and the University of New Mexico (1983-84). He also served as the head coach for one season (1984-85) at Western New Mexico.

Boise State has started a national search to replace Graham.

Performances of the Tournament Day 1

2010-03-12T14:17:00.007-07:00

BITZ Performances of the Tournament

Nominees:

Tai Wesley: 9 of 15 field goals 10 rebounds including 6 offensive, 4 assists, 3 TOs, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 18 points.

A case can be made for Jared Quayle too – 13 rebounds by a guard, what’s up with that?

Jamel Guyton: 11 for 14 field goals, 3 for 5 three-point attempts, 6 for 6 from the line, 11 rebounds including 5 offensive, 31 points.

Now that what I call “bringing it.”

Luke Babbitt: 8 of 15 from the field, 2 for 3 behind the arc 7 boards, 21 points.

Just your average game for Luke.

Jonathan Gibson: 8 of 14 from the field, 4 for 7 from downtown, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and no turnovers. 22 points – way to go old man!

I was going to nominate McKines until I looked at J Gib’s stats.

And the winner is?

I vote for Guyton, what does anyone else think?

"Quote-a-palooza" from yesterday's post-game press conference

2010-03-12T14:16:00.002-07:00

Coah Marvin Menzies on the Aggies' second-half surge vs. San Jose State:

"In the second half, we got a nice little run and our defense sparked it.The defense set the tone.
It's championship time and you have to play defense to win championships. I'm optimistic (about our defense) after seeing their performance tonight."

On preparing for SJSU:
"We did tweak a few things from the last time we played San Jose. They did a very good job of scoring against us the first few times.
They've got some seniors who I saw weren't going to go down without a fight. At least we kept (Adrian) Oliver from scoring 40 on us."

On upping the playing time for Tyrone Watson:
"I said I'll give him some minutes and if he plays well you elongate his minutes.
It keeps a couple of the guys fresher.
Ty was a factor in his effort, energy and defense. He was much-needed boost off thee bench. Gordo (Castillo) also played some real good defense."

On Wendell's scrappy performance and rebounding:
"Wendell is a warrior. He's a double-double machine.
We're doing a better job of rebounding on defense. We're trying to get guards more involved in rebounding. They really helped us in our rebounding effort. When we've been in man theyve had a tendency to want to leak out but i think theyre figuring it out now."

On preparing for tonight's game against Nevada:
"We will do some things differently but if I tell you what I'm going to have to kill ya so i wont do that.
The way we did things the first two times didnt work ... both on defense and offense.
We got a couple of things in the cookie jar that we'll break out so we'll see how that works.

On Jonathan Gibson's three-point game streak:
"We lmost broke that streak at Utah State when we were down late in the game. It was pretty much over and he was going to dribble it out but I told him to just pull up and shoot to keep the streak alive."

Jonathan Gibson on what could be his last performance in Crimson and White:

"I'm gonna go out there and play every game like its my last like i did tonight -- Execute, play defense and stay defensive-minded. I'm out there to get the 'W.'"

Jahmar Young on his performance against SJSU:
"I can go a whole half without scoring until the last two minutes. Once i get my team off, it's a whole lot better because then I can just jump in the mix and contribute."

On tonight's game vs. Nevada:
"It's going to go down. It's goig to be a showdown. The harder we play, the better opportunity we have."

SJSU coach George Nessman on Wendell McKines' performance and the Aggie bigs:

"In terms of Wendell's athleticism, what do you want us to do? Jump above the rim? Wendell can go get the ball where we can't go get it. Give Wendell credit for that. His tenacity, I mean -- there's no gameplan for someone's tenacity.

"In terms of dealing with their bigs in the post, in previous games we double-teamed them. In this game, we didn't.
They didn't score so much on just post play, they scored on extra-effort plays. Wendell is probably the best extra-effort player in the league. I don't think there's an antidote for that. There's nothing you can do except to play as hard as you can against him. I've watched Wendell play since he was a sophomore in high school. Everyone at this table is fully aware of what Wendell can do.
Nothin hed did tonight surprised us."

On the Spartans' season:
"We made some strides this year but we all feel a little empty right now because the last couple of weeks didnt go as we had hoped. We feel like we fumbled it at the 3-yard-line right now.
This is the first time that San Jose has been in the WAC that we've actually been in the race. At the midway point, we were 5-3 and right in the race.

We didnt finish as strongly as we'd like but it takes a lot to get in the race in the WAC. This is one of the top-10 basketball conferences in America and our guys know how hard it was to get to that point. Now they know how much harder it's going to be to get to the next point, so I think that lesson is very instructive for us."

BITZ update

2010-03-12T13:43:00.003-07:00

Yesterday’s games.

Utah State 84, Boise State 60

Louisiana Tech 74, Fresno State 66

Nevada 87, Idaho 71

New Mexico State 90, San Jose State 69

The WAC Semifinals

No. 4 Louisiana Tech (23-9, 9-7) vs No. 1 Utah State (26-6, 14-2)

7 p.m. MST

If Kyle Gibson was 100 percent I think the Bulldogs could pull of an upset and send fat boy back to Utah where he belongs. Unfortunately for the state of Nevada, Gibson is not close to healthy and it will cost them this game. Looks like Reno will have to put up with BS for another day. Then again, another monster game from Jamel Guyton could improve the scenery in Reno tremendously.

No. 3 New Mexico State (20-11, 11-5) vs Nevada (20-11, 11-5)

10 p.m. MST

ESPN2

These two teams have the exact same record. That means the Aggies are 20-9 against everybody else and Nevada is only 18-11 against everybody else. They say that beating a team three times is tough, but I have to hold my nose and go with Nevada in this game. Even so, I think this game comes down to who can make plays down the stretch. Stay up late for what should be a tremendous ESPN2 game and don’t forget to come back here for the BITZ live blogging from our man in Reno, Gabe Vasquez.

Hmmm … I wonder what he’s doing right now?

Don’t tell me we forgot to send a chaperone!

Aggies shoot down Spartans and advance to semis, take on Wolfpack in Reno tonight

2010-03-12T13:11:00.010-07:00

The No. 3 seeded New Mexico State Aggies (20-11, 11-5) take on the No. 2 seeded Nevada Wolfpack (20-11, 11-5) at 10 p.m. MST tonight in the second semis game of the 2010 WAC tournament at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev.

The Aggies come off from an impressive 90-69 win against the San Jose Spartans (14-17, 6-10) in the WAC quarterfinals Thursday. Jonathan Gibson scored 22 points, Jahmar Young added 16 and six assists and Wendell McKines had 15 points and 14 rebounds in a very scrappy, impressive performance by the Oakland, Calif. native. The Aggies outrebounded the Spartans 38-25 and shot 55 percent from the field, while the Spartans shot 45 percent.

The Spartans pulled to within 43-38 in the second half, but NMSU left the Spartans trailing by big digits after a 10-0 run thanks to the Aggies' premier sixth man Troy Gillenwater. Gillenwater ended the game with 11 points on 4-9 from the field and 1-3 from behind the arc. Gillenwater, a Boston, Mass., native, is averaging 14 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game since joining the Aggies late in the season after being academically cleared to play.

The Wolfpack also had an impressive showing against No. 7 seeded Idaho (15-16, 6-10) in yesterday's quarterfinals, defeating the Vandals 87-71. Nevada's Luke Babbit had an impressive 21 point performance, collecting seven rebounds along the way. Brandon Fields chipped in with 15 points in six boards and Joey Shaw dropped in an additional 14 points. Armon Johnson finished with 13 and Dario Hunt had 12.

In other WAC tournament action, the top-seeded Utah State Aggies (26-6, 14-2) took care of eight-seed Boise State (15-17, 5-11), 84-60, in the first game of the tournament. Utags' Tai Wesley shot 9-of-15 from the field and added four assists, three blocks and two steals. The Aggies have won 16 in a row and face off against Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. MST on ESPNU. Tech held off the Fresno State Bulldogs, 74-66, with the help of a 12-point performance by Magnum Rolle and the near double-double (11 points, eight boards) from Olu Ashaolu.

Tonight's New Mexico State Aggie game will be nationally televised on ESPN2. For live coverage of the event and to join the conversation with other Aggie fans, keep your laptop handy to discuss the game as it progresses right here on Bulletin in the Zone.

NMSU vs. SJSU Live Blog

2010-03-11T21:10:00.004-07:00

Click on the application to begin chatting.
The wi-fi Internet connection at the Lawlor Events Center remains unstable and could cause disruptions during the live blog. Bulletin in the Zone apologizes for the inconvenience. University of Nevada officials are working on correcting the problem.

WAC Quarterfinals - NMSU vs. SJSU

No. 7 Idaho vs. No. 2 Nevada (Final UNR 87, IH 71)

2010-03-11T18:45:00.036-07:00

Final score: UNR 87, IH 71

Note: The wi-fi connection at the Lawlor Events Center is unstable. Please bare with us as we try to correct this problem.

Note: Be sure to check out Travis Mason-Bushman's liveblog, http://vandalnation.wordpress.com

The Idaho Vandals (15-15, 6-10 WAC) come in to this game as big underdogs. Although the Vandals have had some eyebrow-raising performances (vs. Utah, Seattle), they've put together a lackluster conference performance. Still, with players such as Mac Hopson (14.4 pts, 5.1 rb, 5.1 ast) and Steffan Johnson (10.2 pts, 3 rbs, 3.2 ast), victory is not far from reach. However, one of Idaho's premier players, Kashif Waston, was recently suspended for comments he made via Twitter regarding coach Don Verlin that could seriously hamper the team's performance.

Nevada (21-13, 10-5 WAC), on the other hand, is coming off a quality home win vs. New Mexico State and after a sluggish mid-season performance, appears to be back on track to be a quality contender to capture the WAC tournament crown. WAC Player of the Year Luke Babbit is a stud and has been averaging 21.7 points and 9 boards.

19:00 Luke Babbit, UNR, three, crowd goes wild.

18:00 Luke Babbit, UNR, layup. Strong home crowd for Nevada tonight, as expected.

16:10 Luciano DeSouza, IH, three-pointer. Ends a 4 minute scoring drought.

14:15 Luke Babbit, UNR, layup. He's scored 7 of UNR's 15 points.

11:22 Jose Shaw, UNR, three-pointer.

10:56 Joey Shaw, UNR, three-pointer.

10:31 Luciano DeSouza, IH, three-pointer.

9:23 Brandon Fields, UNR, three-pointer

8:33 Brandon Fields, UNR, three-pointer

8:09 Timeout

Note: Stats from behind the arc
UNR, 72% (7-11)
IH, 42% (3-7)

Top Performers
Idaho: Luciano de Souza 11 Pts
Nevada: Brandon Fields 8 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl

5:00 Luke Babbit, two-point floater from 5 feet

0:00 Halftime

---------------
2nd Half Stats

IH
FG, 13-33, 39.4%
3PT, 4-10, 40%
FT, 4-7, 51%

UNR,
FG, 17-28, 60.7%
3PT, 7-13, 53.8%
FT, 6-7, 85.7%

---------------

Start of 2nd Half

WAC officials are currently diagnosing the problem with the in-house wi-fi connection at the Lawlor Events Center. Stay tuned for a live blog of your New Mexico State Aggies vs. San Jose State. You won't want to miss it.

Stay tuned for more live action from the WAC men's quarterfinals

2010-03-11T15:36:00.003-07:00

BITZ will be attending a New Mexico State pep-rally at the Peppermill Hotel and Casino and will follow up with commentary and live coverage of Nevada vs. Idaho at 7 p.m PT.

Don't forget the live blogcast of the NM State Aggies vs. the San Jose Spartans at 9:30 p.m MST.

WAC Men's Quarterfinals - Utah State vs. Boise State (Final USU 84, BSU 60)

2010-03-11T12:55:00.088-07:00

Final USU 84, BSU 60

Live coverage, commentary and score updates from the first game of the WAC Men's Basketball tournament.

-------
First half, Lawlor Events Center - Reno, NV.

0:00 The Utah State fans came out in force. They're drowning out the Boise State band.

18:00 USU is 3/3 FG to start the game.

17:00 Jared Quayle, long-range two (uncovered). USU is off to a hot shooting start.

15:45 After a slow start, Boise State is picking up the pace. They're picking up points in transition while Utah State is shooting the ball fairly well.

14:40 Pooh Williams, USU, open three. USU is up 11 after trailing by 2 at the 15 minute mark.

14:11 Timeout. USU, Shooting 55.6%, BSU 38.5%

13:11 A much closer game than expected. BSU is playing tough in the paint and hustling on the both ends of the floor. I don't think USU expected them to come out with this much intensity.

11:30 BSU is losing focus. USU has made consecutive baskets under the paint and a three-pointer that got the crowd going by Brian Green.

11:23 Timeout. USU, Shooting 61.5%, BSU 31.6%. BSU points in the paint, 11, USU, 6. BSU fast break points 4, USU 2.

9:11 Brian Green, USU, open three. USU starting to run away. BSU has no answer to USU's pick-n-pop spot-up threes.

7:28 Timeout. USU shooting 57.9%, BSU shooting 29.6%. BSU Points in the paint, 14, USU 10. USU bench points 6, BSU 0. BSU leading scorers - three tied at 4. USU leading scorers - two tied at 6.

5:59 Timeout.

4:51 BSU 5-0 run.

4:40 Timeout BSU. USU is feeling the pressure from BSU's relentless attack in the paint and occassional pressure on the defensive end, which has led to five USU turnovers.

4:00 Jared Quayle, USU wide-open three.

3:00 Tai Wesley turnover. (Robert Arnold block (2)) Robert Arnold jump-shot.

2:26 Timeout. USU Shooting 50%, BSU 36.4%. USU leading scorer Jared Quayle, 7. BSU leading scorer Daequon Montreal, 9. USU boards 19, BSU 15. USU points in the paint, 10, BSU 20.

1:16 Bill Sproat, aka "Wild Bill" is here, dressed in a skimpy pink outfit. I'm sure someone sponsored him to come to Reno.

0:02 Paul Noonan, three-pointer at the buzzer.

0:00 Halftime

-----

Note: I did not expect BSU to come out with this much intensity. They're a scrappy team. BSU's Robert Arnold is showing incredible hustle, and has gotten in a couple of confrontations with USU's Tai Wesley. USU has looked notably frustrated at several points in the game. Tyler Newbold came awfully close to getting T'd up.

BSU's performance in the paint makes me think there could be a "formula" developing here for attacking USU's pressure D. They're finding the open man down low, USU is not double teaming in the paint, and BSU is getting some awfully easy 3 and four foot gimmes. The game could easily be tied if not for a couple of in-and-out BSU layups.

USU has a strong presence here in Reno. The atmosphere is definitely in USU's favor. I've always been impressed with USU's rowdy fanbase but to hear their rehearsed chants (they've got one for almost every situation) is a bit intimidating. Makes me hopeful that NMSU's Crimson Crew, which launched this year, can achieve similar success and organization for its student fanbase.

The big difference maker in this game so far has definitely been USU's pick-n-pop open threes (5-10) and BSU's clumsy three-two zone that has been unable to stop it.

Stats:
USU
FG: 46% (14-30)
3-pt: 50% (5-10)
FT: 100% (2-2
Leading scorer: Jared Quayle, 9
Leading rebounder: Tai Wesley, 7

BSU
FG: 37.1% (13-35)
3-pt: 12.5% (1-8)
FT: 60% (3-5)
Leading scorer: Daequon Montreal, 10
Leading rebounder: Robert Arnold, 4

------

2nd Half

18:04 Tyler Newbold, open three

17:00 Offensive foul, Tai Wesley, 3rd personal

16:28 Tai Wesley, layup. USU is regaining poise and control on both ends of the floor.

15:23 Timeout.

Top Performers
BSU: Anthony Thomas 7 Pts, 4 Ast, 3 Stl
Utah State: Tai Wesley 10 Pts, 8 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk

13:40 Robert Arnold uncontested three. BSU 7-0 run

13:08 Tai Wesley, layup and one. Missed three-throw

11:45 BSU losing focus. They look tired. Sloppy on both offense and defense. They're letting USU's bigs overpower them and not getting back in transition.

9:00 Ike Okoye, fast-break dunk (crowd pleaser)

8:54 Timeout. USU Shooting, 50%. BSU Shooting 37.3%.

Top Performers
Boise State: Robert Arnold 11 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk
Utah State: Tai Wesley 14 Pts, 9 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk

8:37 La'Shard Anderson three.

7:16 BSU is simply getting outhustled. They look tired. Hope they haven't conceded the game just yet, still 7 solid minutes left to play.

4:44 BSU's Robert Arnold just denied USU's Brady Jardine's dunk. It was ugly. After the play, Arnold shoved Jardine around. No call. Interesting to see how this game will finish, physically.

3:49 Timeout.

Top Performers
BSU: Daequon Montreal 16 Pts, 4 Reb, 2 Ast
USU: Tai Wesley 16 Pts, 10 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk

3:34 BSU is gift wrapping the ball and giving it to USU.

0:55 Sloppy and disappointing BSU finish after their explosive first half of play.

WAC reprimands Morrill

2010-03-10T07:24:00.004-07:00

Here is a WAC press release from late Tuesday night:

"Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson announced today that Utah State University men's basketball coach Stew Morrill has been publicly reprimanded for violating the WAC's sportsmanship code during the March 6 game against New Mexico State.

"Following a technical foul by a New Mexico State player, Morrill directed "provocative language" towards the player. This clearly violated the WAC's sportsmanship code and any further violations of the code may result in a minimum of a one game suspension."

This week's "Quotapalooza"

2010-03-09T19:55:00.003-07:00

Here are some quotes from Jonathan Gibson and coach Marvin Menzies.

Jonathan Gibson on Monday, March 8, in the Pan American Center

On last year’s WAC tournament:

“Last year was a heart breaker, we lost on a buzzer beater, the last shot. We were up by 13 at halftime and couldn’t hold the lead. This year we’ve got enough talent on the team and I think if we go in there and execute, take one game at a time we can definitely come out with the WAC championship.”

Q: Did the recent road trip take some confidence away from the team?

“We just got to clean some stuff up – I wouldn’t say it’s a confidence thing – we just got to clean some stuff up.

“Sometimes you got to lose to be able to win the big one.”

About San Jose State:

“We split one and one with them in the conference, they’re are a pretty solid team and they got a big man back. If we can go out there and take care of business on the defensive end and get stops I think the offense will come and we can get a W.”

On team morale:

“We got kind of humbled a little bit, the last loss we got beat bad, we can’t take anything for granted. We have go out there and execute, and be more defensive minded.

“We don’t need to change anything, we just got to refocus on the defensive end because we gave up 100 points to Nevada. We need to keep them to 60 or 65, and if we score 80 we’ll win all the games.” (laughing).

Q: What happened in the second half of those games?

“We had two bad second halves. At Nevada we came out lackadaisical a little bit and Fields kept driving, he found Babbitt at the end and he’s not going to miss free throws and it just kind of went from there. Utah State came out with a lot of fire and they were making shots.”

Q: Does it affect this team more than others when your not making shots?

“Maybe a little bit but we just got to clean that up When we don’t score we still have to be able to stop people.”

About playing Nevada again if NMSU and Nevada make the second round:

“It will be a big challenge because the tournament is there and they have the home-court advantage and we just got done playing them. We gave up 100 points so we got to trim that down and go from there.”

Q: What are your chances of winning the WAC tournament and getting an NCAA tournament bid?

“I think it’s a big chance we can win. We came in tied for second. If we refocus and clean up some stuff we can definitely can come out with the W. We got enough talent on the team, a great staff and great players. We just have to have a defensive mind set and stop people.”

On beating a team three times (Which Nevada would have to to to New Mexico State):

“It is hard. When I was a sophomore we beat Boise two times and then lost to them. We know each other, we know what we are going to do. We’ll watch tape. We played each other twice already so the third game is “who wants it more.”

On the Utah State crowd:

"I’ve been there three times it’s the same, its incredible."

Marvin Menzies in Las Cruces, Tuesday, March 8:

Q: How’s the morale on the team?

“They’re ready to roll, at this state of the year if you’re not ready to roll you’ll be in trouble.

“I just think that it was disappointing on Thursday, when we lost the opportunity to win the whole enchilada. It just took a few days to realize, ‘OK we’re second so let’s just go out and try to win games now.’”

“We didn’t get the one done on Saturday, but that’s a tough environment to play in. Utah State played really well.

“When all is said and done the players know they have to win three games in order to dance. We’ve been talking about it for a long time, so I think they’ll be ready.”

Q: Was fatigue much of a factor in Logan?

"I think it played a little bit of a role. Just in general that’s why the road is so tough. But at the end of the day you have to fight through that and try to do the best you can effortwise to put yourself in a position to win."

“They had their run in the second half and it was just a mountain we couldn’t climb back up.”

On the team putting themselves in the position to win the conference in the last week of the regular season:

I thought (it was a great thing) but you wouldn’t think so from reading some of the comments. In coaching you’re only as good as your last play, let alone your last game.

“I think we did pretty good being 11 and 5 and we got everybody coming back except for one scholarship kid. We’ll be OK.”

Updates from Reno

2010-03-09T16:16:00.002-07:00

Be on the lookout for daily updates from the WAC conference tournament in Reno and a "live" blog (chat room format) during the Aggies' games right here on Bulletin in the Zone. Insight, facts, figures and observations will also be posted from non-Aggie games. Go Aggies!

Nothing to panic about

2010-03-08T09:55:00.002-07:00

All over the WAC blogs there is a lot of talk about how disappointing NMSU's play was at Nevada and Utah State.
I'm disappointed too, but if you look at the record, Nevada is 14-1 at home – losing only to Utah State – and Utah State is 17-1 at home, losing only to a very good Saint Mary's club.
So all this talk about the Aggies being a lousy team is a bit overdone.

All WAC team announced

2010-03-08T09:38:00.001-07:00

From NM State Sports:

New Mexico State men’s basketball junior guard Jahmar Young, senior guard Jonathan Gibson and junior forward Wendell McKines have earned All-WAC honors, which the nine conference coaches voted on, the league office announced, Sunday, March 7.

Young was named to the first team for the second consecutive year after leading the Aggies with 20.9 points per game. Gibson garnered second team accolades with 17.8 points per contest. McKines was an honorable mention selection with a WAC-high 9.8 rebounds per game in conference contests. This is the first year since the 2005-06 season that the Aggies have had multiple all-league honorees.

“I’m happy for the guys and their accomplishments,” head coach Marvin Menzies said. “To finish second in the conference and be recognized for these accolades is a step in the right direction for the program. Jahmar has been a steady force for us all season long. Being recognized to the first team is very fitting for him.

“Jonathan’s ability to score the ball with such consistency has boded well for us, and it’s nice for him to be selected in his senior year,” Menzies said. “Wendell’s work ethic, heart and hustle earned him a place on the honorable mention team. Hopefully, that will motivate him to continue that and help us to win more games next year.”

2009-10 WAC Men’s Basketball Postseason Award Winners

All-Conference

First Team
Luke Babbitt, Nevada, F, 6-9, 225, So., Reno, Nev. (Galena HS)
Jahmar Young, New Mexico State, G, 6-4, 180, Jr., Baltimore, Md. (Laurinberg Prep)
Adrian Oliver, San Jose State, G, 6-4, 210, Jr., Modesto, Calif. (Washington)
Jared Quayle, Utah State, G, 6-1, 180, Sr., Perry, Utah (Western Wyoming CC)
Tai Wesley, Utah State, F, 6-7, 240, Jr., Provo, Utah (Provo HS)

Second Team
Paul George, Fresno State, G/F, 6-8, 215, So., Palmdale, Calif. (Pete Knight HS)
Kyle Gibson, Louisiana Tech, G, 6-5, 205, Sr., Los Angeles, Calif. (Dorsey HS)
Magnum Rolle, Louisiana Tech, F/C, 6-11, 220, Sr., Freeport, Bahamas (LSU)
Armon Johnson, Nevada, G, 6-3, 195, Jr., Reno, Nev. (Hug HS)
Jonathan Gibson, New Mexico State, G, 6-1, 171, Sr., West Covina, Calif. (Calvary Christian)

Honorable Mention
Daequon Montreal, Boise State, F, 6-8, 220, Jr., Syracuse, N.Y. (College of Southern Idaho)
Sylvester Seay, Fresno State, F, 6-10, 235, Sr., San Bernardino, Calif. (Arizona State)
Roderick Flemings, Hawaii, F, 6-7, 210, Sr., Dallas, Texas (Weatherford College)
Mac Hopson, Idaho, G, 6-2, 185, Sr., Portland, Ore. (Washington State)
Wendell McKines, New Mexico State, F, 6-6, 224, Jr., Oakland, Calif. (Richmond HS)

Player of the Year: Luke Babbitt, Nevada
Freshman of the Year: Greg Smith, Fresno State
Don Haskins Coach of the Year: Stew Morrill, Utah State

All-Defensive Team
Marvin Jefferson, Idaho, C, 6-10, 245, Sr., Merced, Calif. (Modesto JC)
Kyle Gibson, Louisiana Tech, G, 6-5, 205, Sr., Los Angeles, Calif. (Dorsey HS)
Magnum Rolle, Louisiana Tech, F/C, 6-11, 220, Sr., Freeport, Bahamas (LSU)
Dario Hunt, Nevada, F, 6-8, 230, So., Colorado Springs, Colo. (Charis Prep)
Pooh Williams, Utah State, G/F, 6-3, 200, Jr., Federal Way, Wash. (Federal Way HS)

All-Newcomer Team
Daequon Montreal, Boise State, F, 6-8, 220, Jr., Syracuse, N.Y. (College of Southern Idaho)
Greg Smith, Fresno State, C, 6-10, 250, Fr., Fresno, Calif. (Westwind Academy/Edison HS)
DeAndre Brown, Louisiana Tech, G, 5-11, 160, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas (Navarro JC)
Nate Bendall, Utah State, F, 6-9, 245, Jr., Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake CC)
Brian Green, Utah State, G, 6-1, 195, Jr., Kaysville, Utah (Salt Lake CC)

WAC seeding scenarios

2010-03-05T14:43:00.002-07:00

This comes form Jason Erikson at the WAC

These the scenarios for all possible seeds for the men’s teams. Since Nevada can be the 2, 3 or 4 seed, the bracket cannot be set yet. As a reminder, Nevada will play the 6 p.m. game on Thursday. If Nevada is the 2 or 3 seed, then Utah State (the #1 seed) will play at noon. If Nevada is the 4 seed, Utah State will play at 8:30 p.m. and New Mexico State (in this case the #2 seed) will play at noon.

2010 Men’s WAC Tournament Scenarios

Below are the possible seeds for each of the men’s teams after this Saturday’s games. Ties were broken using the tie-breaking principles on the following page.

Possible Seeds
Boise State
7 If Boise State beats San Jose State and Hawai‘i beats Idaho
8 If Boise State beats San Jose State and Idaho beats Hawai‘i OR
If Boise State loses to San Jose State and Idaho beats Hawai‘i OR
If Boise State loses to San Jose State, Hawai‘i beats Idaho and Louisiana Tech beats Nevada
X If Boise State loses to San Jose State, Hawai‘i beats Idaho and Nevada beats Louisiana Tech

Fresno State
5 Locked in

Hawai‘i
8 If Hawai‘i beats Idaho, San Jose State beats Boise State and Nevada beats Louisiana Tech

X If Hawai‘i loses to Idaho OR
If Hawai‘i beats Idaho and Boise State beats San Jose State OR
If Hawai‘i beats Idaho, San Jose State beats Boise State and Louisiana Tech beats Nevada

Idaho
7 If Idaho beats Hawai‘i OR
If Idaho loses to Hawai‘i and San Jose State beats Boise State
8 If Idaho loses to Hawai‘i and Boise State beats San Jose State

Louisiana Tech
3 If Louisiana Tech beats Nevada
4 If Louisiana Tech loses to Nevada

Nevada
2 If Nevada beats Louisiana Tech and Utah State beats New Mexico State
3 If Nevada beats Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State beats Utah State
4 If Nevada loses to Louisiana Tech

New Mexico State
2 If New Mexico State beats Utah State OR
If New Mexico State loses to Utah State and Louisiana Tech beats Nevada
3 If New Mexico State loses to Utah State and Nevada beats Louisiana Tech

San Jose State
6 Locked in

Utah State
1 Locked in

WAC Tie-breaking Procedures.
a. General Procedures
The following procedures are to be used to determine seeding for a Conference tournament or to establish the automatic qualifier to an NCAA Championship subject to any sport regulation tie-breakers.
[1] Ties for all places in the standings (between two teams or three or more teams) which can be broken based upon head-to-head competition are broken before the implementation of further tie-breaking procedures.
[2] If more than two teams are tied, the three or more tie-breaking procedures shall be implemented. If only two teams are tied, the two-team tie-breaking procedures shall be implemented.
[3] In the case of ties for more than one place, the first tie broken is that of the highest place (i.e., first place, second place, etc.) and continue downward through the standings.
[4] If the tie is for first place and cannot be broken by a head-to-head results, compare the tied teams’ winning percentage against the next highest finishing team and continue through the standings. The team with the best winning percentage against the next highest-finishing team or group of tied teams advances. If the tie is for any position other than first place, the comparison shall begin at the top of the standings.
[5] Once a tied team has been placed in a position/seed, that team shall be included in all further comparisons of other tied teams from the position/seed in which it has been placed.

b. Tie-Breaking Procedures
[1] Two-Way Tie:
[i] The winner of the head-to-head competition is the higher seed.
[ii] If the tie is for first place, compare the tied teams’ records against the next highest finishing team and continue through the standings. The team with the best record/winning percentage against the next highest finishing team or group of tied teams advances. If the tie is for any position other than first place, the comparison shall begin at the top of the standings.
[iii] If a tie still remains, the Conference office shall conduct a draw. The drawn team shall receive the higher seed.
[iv] Men and Women’s Basketball Only. If a tie still remains, the institution with the highest RPI following the conclusion of the WAC’s regular season shall receive the higher seed (replaces iii above). The official NCAA RPI shall be used, if available. If not, CollegeRPI.com shall be used. [5/06]
[2] Three or More-Way Tie. Once a tie has been reduced to two teams, the two-team tie-breaker is implemented.
[i] Compare the records of the tied teams against each other. The team(s) with the best record(s) versus the other tied teams receives the higher seed or advances to the next tie-breaker; the team with the next best record versus the other tied teams receives the next highest seed or advances to the next tie breaker, etc.
[ii] If the tie is for first place, compare the tied teams’ records against the next highest finishing team and continue through the standings. The team with the best record against the next highest-finishing team or group of tied teams advances. If the tie is for any position other than first place the comparison shall begin at the top of the standings.
[iii] If a tie still remains, the Conference office shall conduct a draw. The first team drawn shall receive the higher seed, the second team drawn shall receive the next highest seed, etc.
[iv] Men and Women’s Basketball Only. If a tie still remains, the institution with the highest RPI following the conclusion of the WAC’s regular season shall receive the higher seed (replaces iii above). The official NCAA RPI shall be used, if available. If not, CollegeRPI.com shall be used. [5/06]

Aggies can't break through at Nevada

2010-03-04T22:19:00.002-07:00

Nevada took control of a tight game in the second half to defeat New Mexico State 100-92.
The loss by NMSU gives the regular season title to Utah State.

Tonight's WAC games – March 4, 2010

2010-03-04T17:00:00.004-07:00

Hawai'i (10-18, 3-11) at Boise State (13-16, 3-11)
7 p.m. MST
Perhaps the most important game of the night because the loser will likely miss the WAC tournament. I would give the edge to BSU in this one.

San Jose State (14-14, 6-8) at Idaho (13-15, 4-10)
7 p.m. PST
ESPN Regional, ESPN 360
This one is a tough one to call. Idaho has improved a lot since the beginning of conference play.
San Jose has Adrian Oliver. The Spartans just edged Idaho in San Jose 78-75, so I say Idaho will come out on top of what should be a great game.

Louisiana Tech (22-7, 9-5) at Fresno State
7 p.m. PST
Will Fresno State show up to play tonight? If not, it's a big win for Louisiana Tech, still in the hunt for the No. 3 seed. La Tech may be without Kyle Gibson, but Fresno has been in the tank. I think La Tech wins.

New Mexico State ( 19-9, 11-3) at Nevada (17-11, 9-5)
7 p.m. PST
Huge game for both teams. Explain to me why it's not on TV? I think NMSUs depth will be the deciding factor, and the Aggies will come out on top in Reno for the second straight year.

2010-03-03T22:45:00.004-07:00

Do be sure to check out Parsing the WAC for KM's always informative linkfinding.
Is that a brand-new verb?

Comments from Tuesday's press conference

2010-03-03T15:59:00.005-07:00

Below is an excerpt of comments from Tuesday's press conference with coach Menzies and several Aggie players. The conference was mostly focused on the upcoming road trip, probably the toughest two-game stretch (Louisiana Tech who?) for the Aggies.

Coach Marvin Menzies
... on the game vs. Nevada

"I think the Nevada game is one that will keep the guys full attention. I’m not too worried about them looking ahead because it’s such a quality opponent on Thursday.
The thought of having this opportunity is looming. What you’ve got to do is win or lose on Thursday you have to play the type of basketball your capable of on Saturday regardless.
Nevada had a lot of curve balls thrown at them. Hawai’i was due to beat somebody there.
The added distractions of the game being cancelled and then back on. Are we staying here or are we flying back? All that had to have effected the game preparation and routine. Not making any excuses for them but I’ve been in those shoes before and it can take it’s toll on your guys. In that game you have to be ready to play when you go there.
Kramer is a pretty good defender and shoots the lights out. Whether he comes off the bench or he starts, he’ll play a significant amount of minute and be a factor in the game.
Right now the three ball is proving to be a deciding factor in a lot of games."

... on the tight game vs. Boise State

"We need to be positive right now and keep moving forward. There’s some good lessons there that we’re going to tap into today and that we’ve incorporated into our practice Jut as much physical as mental, drilling on that winning time situation. We’ve got some game film, not just our game but other games. We’ll talk a little mathematics and we’re just going to explain the logic and those guys got to walk out and make better decisions but they got to know why they’re doing and what they’re doing."

... on the upcoming game vs. Utah State

"The Utah State team is a complete team. That’s been their biggest advantage all year long is they have such balance. They’ve got great experience and depth right now. They were picked the favorite and they’re still the team to beat.
Even though we’ve already beaten them once that was a long time ago and they still have a better record than we do now so we’re still the ones going in as the underdogs – especially on the road."

The always colorful Wendell McKines

... on winning the regular season WAC title

"This is huge, huge, huge, huge. It's going to down in history.
It’s real important. It's definitely big considering where we came from at the beginning of the year and to go down as regular season champs that would be a big accomplishment.
It would give a lot of confidence going in to the tournament knowing we are No. 1."

... on the upcoming game vs. Utah State

"I know the fans are going to be kind of hard on me so I look forward to it. At the end of the day we’re playing basketball and the best team is going to win.
Utah State -- they always figure out a way to outsmart you and catch you when your slipping. That’s their system and they run it to perfection.
It’s like a computer the way they operate and we just got to be a virus.
We have to pressure them and not let them feel comfortable at any point of the game ... no open threes to let them get the crowd going. Just pressure, pressure, pressure."

... on Utah State's ample-bellied "superfan"

Question from the audience "Are you afraid of Bill Sproat?"
Wen's response:
"Who’s that?"
After clarification from reporter:
"I’ve seen a lot of things I can be scared of, and he’s definitely not one of them."

... on Nevada's Luke Babbit

"Babbit is interesting because he can shoot it and he’s pretty much a three playing a four sometimes, so you just want to stay physical with him. It should be fun, the second matchup."

... on the Aggie bigs vs. Nevada.

"Our chemistry is pretty cool, we’ve been playing with everybody for two and a half years now, even Troy and Ham. They’ve been here since I’ve been here.
Our chemistry is good and I think we’re peaking at the right time to do something special.
Troy stepped in the place it’s good for us but its got to suck for other teams.
They have to deal with Ham and me and Troy coming off the bench. It’s another great weapon we have so we’re stacked, we just got to put everything together and stay defensive minded first and we should be fine."

Las Cruces native and Aggie sharpshooter Gordo Castillo

... on the upcoming road trip

"(The road trip) is going to be tough, they’re both hostile environments.
We are ready, it’s going to be a big road trip for us. It’s probably the biggest road trip since I’ve been here. Every road trip is big but we want tournament time, to win would give us a lot of momentum and we’re looking forward to it.
Everyone’s real focused you can tell just by looking at guys.
Everybody wants to win so everybody has been stepping their game up a lot."

Thanks to Jim Hilley for transcribing the quotes.

Aggies vs. Boise State photos

2010-03-03T15:21:00.008-07:00

(1) Aggie senior guard Jonathan Gibson elevates over Boise State forward Ike Okoye. Gib finished the night with 24 points.

(2) Legendary Aggie coach Lou Henson was a special guest at Aggies' last home game Saturday, Feb. 27.

(3) Senior guard Jonathan Gibson sets up a play.

(4) The Aggies' leading scorer Jahmar Young shoots a three.

(5) The Aggies' biggest threat from behind the arc, Las Cruces native Gordo Castillo shoots the long ball.

(6) Elijah Halland gets the message out with some help from his mom.

(7) Senior forward and Santa Fe native Kelly Merker says his goodbye.

Photos taken by Richard Davis for the Las Cruces Bulletin.

Utags frazzle Fresno

2010-03-02T05:04:00.004-07:00

Twenty-two.
That how many points Utah State (24-6, 13-2 Western Athletic Conference) scored before Fresno State (14-17, 6-9) scored a point.
That is also the field goal percentage Fresno State shot for the game Monday night in Logan when Utah State simply impounded the Bulldogs 76-39.
Conversely, Utah State shot better than 55 percent, had 25 assists to the Bulldogs 4 and won the turnover battle 16 to 9. There are more ugly numbers but I'll spare any Fresno State fans that read this blog the pain.
The Utags have been jumping on visitors early and not letting up.
The win gives Utah State at least a piece of the regular season conference championship for the third year in a row.
It's pretty simple for New Mexico State (19-9, 11-3) now. Win at Reno and in Logan and take the first seed in the tournament. Split the road trip and finish second. Lose both games and finish third unless Louisiana Tech (22-7, 9-5) wins at Nevada (17-11, 9-5).

Senior night at the Pan Am

2010-03-01T06:01:00.004-07:00

Update: Reports indicate McKines was benched for most of Saturday's game for skipping class.

Warming up before Saturday's game against Boise State, the Ags seemed happy-go lucky. Celebrating senior night, they kidded around, playfully teased Gibson and Merker, and didn't pay much attention to their practice drills. I became worried. The last time the Aggie spirits were riding this high (After a home win vs. Louisiana Tech) they traveled to Fresno and got embarrassed against a lower-tier WAC team, 83-64.

And although their last win at home was no upset or surprise (74-57 vs. Idaho), it was senior night Saturday, the Ags' last home game of the regular season. They looked a bit too relaxed.

In the end, they took care of business, scoring just five shy of a 100, 95-92. In high and close scoring battles, the Ags are usually victor. Jonathan Gibson was the leading scorer in his final regular-season home game (NIT, maybe?), Jahmar Young put up 20, followed by Hamidu Rahman and Hernst Laroche with 15. I thought Laroche played very well Saturday. He also had four assists and four steals. Rahman also played a terrific game, pulling out the double-double with 10 boards.

But it was a different story for forwards Troy Gillenwater and Wendell McKines. Wendell, who for some reason only played 17 minutes in the entire game, was 1-4 from the field, scoring only 2 points. He seemed a bit sloppy on the offensive end but took care of business on d. Gillenwater, on the other hand, played 25 minutes but went 6 for 13 from the field. He took a couple of 15-footers and missed pretty badly, along with two missed three-pointers. Gillenwater said he's been working on his long ball since being benched the first half of the season, but it didn't help much Saturday. Either way, his passion was there, and he had a couple of nasty blocks that made the crowd oooh.

The postseason senior night celebration was heartfelt, and plenty of fans stuck around to see Jonathan Gibson, Kelly Merker and Tray Britt honored for their contributions to Aggie basketball. Gibson thanked his family, friends and Aggie loyal, saying, "I thank God for giving me the opportunity to play here and my family for supporting me. I love my teammates, love the fans and the coaches here. I can't get wait to get out there and get another one."

Merker, the Santa Fe, N.M. native said, "I wouldn't have made it this far without my family. I take great pride in being part of this program and I look forward to seeing you guys in the future." This is Merker's last year of eligibility as a graduate student walk-on.

Britt said, "I want to thank my teammates, coaching staff, family and everyone that couldn't be here tonight. I love them."

The Aggies play Nevada in Reno, Nev., Thursday, March 4.

Hawai'i tops Nevada

2010-02-28T05:26:00.002-07:00

Hawai'i has ended their losing streak with a 74-63 win over Nevada out in the sloshy Pacific.
The final in San Jose was Spartans 72, Bulldogs 45.

Update

2010-02-27T21:18:00.002-07:00

Great job of blogging the Aggie game by Gabe Vasquez.
In other WAC games, LA Tech took care of Idaho in Rustin tonight 60-49.
San Jose is stomping on Fresno State 53-29 with 10:58 to go.

Live gamecast of NMSU vs. Boise State (NMSU 95, BSU 92)

2010-02-27T18:31:00.122-07:00

*** FINAL SCORE: NMSU 95, BSU 92

Play-by-play action (well, mostly play-by-play) of the WAC's No. 2 New Mexico State University Aggies (18-9, 10-3 WAC) vs. the Boise State Broncos (13-15, 3-10 WAC).

The Aggies are coming off a 74-57 home win against Idaho Wednesday, Feb. 24. Hot shooting behind the arc and a strong performance by center Hamiduh Rahman and forward Wendell McKines led the Aggies to an easy win Wednesday. The Aggies are now the only remaining team in the hunt to win the regular season WAC title, a game and a half behind Utah State.

Boise State is coming off a 72-59 surprise win against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in Ruston, La -- their best win of the season. For Boise, forward Ike Okoye leads the team's scorers averaging 13.1 points and 8.3 boards per game. Forward Robert Arnold, guard La'Shard Anderson and guard Daequon Montreal are all averaging 10 points for the Broncos.

---Game start---
Note: A good turnout from fans, I would estimate about 8,000.

19:18: Hamiduh Rahman, Layup, NMSU 2, BSU 0

18:35: Robert Arnold, BSU, dunk, NMSU 2, BSU 2

18:00: Robert Arnold, BSU, three-pointer, NMSU 2, BSU 5

17:45: Jahmar Young, long range two, NMSU 4, BSU 5

17:20 Hernst Laroche, long range two, NMSU 6, BSU 5

17:00: Hernst Larchoe, layup off turnover, NMSU 8, BSU 5

16:20: Jonathan Gibson, three-pointer, NMSU 11, BSU 7

16:05: Daequon Montreal, BSU, two-point jumpshot, NMSU 11, BSU 9

15:55: Timeout

15:35: Turnover Zach Ortiz, BSU

15:10: Turnover Robert Arnold, BSU

15:00: Jahmar Young, three-pointer, NMSU 14, BSU 9

14:05: Foul, Anthony Thomas, BSU

13:50: Hamidu Rahman, layup, NMSU 16, BSU 9

13:20: Hamidu Rahman, layup, NMSU 18, BSU 9

12:53: Daequon Montreal, BSU, dunk, NMSU 18, BSU 11

12:27: Hamidu Rahman, layup, NMSU 20, BSU 11

11:52: Zach Mortiz, BSU, layup, NMSU 20, BSU 13

11:16: Paul Noonan, BSU, three-pointer, NMSU 20, BSU 16

10:30 Timeout

----
Note: The Aggies and Broncos are playing fast-paced ball. The style of play lends well to the Aggies' high-powered offense, who have several options on the breakaway for spot-up jumpers, layups or shots from behind the arc. Sloppy defensive play by the Aggies has also led to quick fast-break points for the Broncos, however. The Aggies started with a high-pressure man defense but have since let down a bit.

The crowd keeps getting bigger, about 9,000 now, I would say.
----

9:37: Jahmar Young, jumpshot, NMSU 22, BSU 16

9:12: Kelly Merker, shooting foul

9:12: Zach Mortiz, BSU, two missed free throws

8:40: Daequon Montreal, BSU, dunk, NMSU 22, BSU 18

8:28: Foul, Zach Mortiz, BSU

8:28: Hamidu Rahman, two free throws, NMSU 24, BSU 18

8:10: Daequon Montreal, BSU, layup, NMSU 24, BSU 20

7:52: Jonathan Gibson, jump shot, NMSU 26, BSU 20

7:42: Timeout

7:26: Troy Gillenwater, layup w/ foul, NMSU 28, BSU 20

6:50: Rashard Anderson, BSU, three-pointer, NMSU 28, BSU 23

6:33: Timeout, NMSU

6:00: Paul Noonan, BSU, three-pointer, NMSU 28, BSU 26

5:30: Jahmar Young, jumpshot, NMSU 30, BSU 26

5:10: Troy Gillenwater, ally-oop dunk, NMSU 32, BSU 26

4:45: Ike Okoye, BSU, layup, NMSU 32, BSU 28

4:15: Daeqon Montreal, BSU, layup, NMSU 32, BSU 30

3:50: Hamidu Rahman, layup, NMSU 34, BSU 31

3:30: Paul Noonan, BSU, three-pointer NMSU 34, BSU 34

3:15: Hernst Laroche, layup, NMSU 36, BSU 34

2:43: Timeout
----

Note: The Aggies are playing sloppy zone d. They are not getting back on their assignment on the fast break and BSU forward Paul Noonan has punished the ags with several three-pointers on the fast break. Most of the Broncos' points are coming off the fast break.

-----

2:00: Hernst Laroche, three-pointer, NMSU 39, BSU 34

1:05: Jonathan Gibson, three-pointer, NMSU 42, BSU 36

0:45: Tyrone Watson, one of two free throws, NMSU 43, BSU 36

00:00 Halftime score, NMSU 43, BSU 38

---------------

Halftime recap: The Aggies are shooting 54 percent from the field, 36 percent from three-point land and 60 percent from the charity stripe. Boise state is shooting 43 percent from the field, 42 percent from three-point land and 0-2 from the free-throw line.

--------Start of second half---------

19:15: Ike Okoye, BSU, layup, NMSU 43, BSU 40

18:37: Foul, Robert Arnold, BSU

18:27: Jonathan Gibson, one of two free thros, NMSU 44, BSU 40

18:00: Montreal Daequon turnover

17:50: Jonathan Gibson, layup, NMSU 46, BSU 42

17:26: Jahmar Young, shooting foul

17:26: Robert Arnold, BSU, two of two free throws, NMSU 46, BSU 44

17:15: Jahmar Young, three-pointer, NMSU 49, BSU 44

16:55: Jonathan Gibson, three-pointer, NMSU 52, BSU 44

16:35: Hernst Laroche, layup, NMSU 54, BSU 45

16:20: Jahmar Young, layup, NMSU 56, BSU 45

16:18: Timeout

-------

Note: Despite a frustrating early second half start, the Aggies are shooting lights-out in the past two minutes and have increased their lead to 11. JY and Gib hit back-to-back threes to cap the Aggie run.

--------

16:00: Foul, Hamidu Rahman

15:35: Paul Noonan, BSU, three-pointer NMSU 56, BSU 48

15:20: Troy Gillenwater, jump hook, NMSU 58, BSU 48

14:33: Jonathan Gibson, jump shot, NMSU 60, BSU 48

14:00: Troy Gillenwater, fastbreak layup, NMSU 62, BSU 48

13:25: Shot clock violation, BSU

12:55: Jonathan Gibson, three-point made and a foul, NMSU 65, BSU 48

12:54: Timeout Boise State

12:17: Gordo Castillo, three-pointer, NMSU 68, BSU 48

12:13: Ike Okoye, BSU, two-pointer and the foul, NMSU 48, BSU 51

11:49: Timeout

----

Note: The Aggies are dominating on both ends of the floor. They are not making as many mistakes on the defensive end are not allowing Boise to play the effective transition game they had in the first half. The Aggies are shooting lights out, led by JY and Gibson.

----

11:32: Robert Arnold, BSU, layup, NMSU 68, BSU 53

11:07: Robert Arnold, BSU, three-pointer, NMSU 68, BSU 56

11:07: Timeout, NMSU

10:30: Gordo Castillo, three-pointer, NMSU 71, BSU 56

10:20: Robert Arnold, BSU, layup, NMSU 71, BSU 58

9:50: Troy Gillenwater, two-pointer, NMSU 73, BSU 60

9:00: Hernst Laroche, layup, NMSU 75, BSU 60

9:00: Timeout, BSU

8:38: Robert Arnold, BSU, three-pointer, NMSU 75, BSU 63

8:00: Hamidu Rahman, layup w/ a foul, NMSU 78, BSU 63

7:40: Robert Arnold, BSU, three-pointer, NMSU 78, BSU 66

6:51: Daequon Montreal, layup w/ the foul, NMSU 78, BSU 69

6:40: Wendell McKines, dunk, NMSU 80, BSU 69

6:15: Daequon Montreal, layup, NMSU 80, BSU 71

5:50: Troy Gillenwater, layup, NMSU 82, BSU 71

5:30: Jonathan Gibson, three-pointer, NMSU 85, BSU 71

5:15: Foul, Herns Laroche

5:00: Ike Okoye, layup, NMSU 85, BSU 73

4:32: Foul, Troy Gillenwater

4:32: Daequon Montreal, two free throws, NMSU 85, BSU 75

---

Note: The Aggies are managing the clock better now but taking poor shots. BSU's Paul Noonan is relentless from beyond the arc. The Aggies are doing a poor job again of covering BSU's shooters during transition.

----

3:50: Paul Noonan, three-pointer, NMSU 85, BSU 78

3:16: Intentional foul, Anthony Thomas, BSU

3:16: Jahmar Young, two free throws, NMSU 87, BSU 78

2:40: Ike Okoye, layup, NMSU 87, BSU 79

2:06: Jonathan Gibson, jumpshot, NMSU 89, BSU 80

2:00: Jahmar Young, foul

1:59: La'Shard Anderson, two of two free throws, NMSU 89, BSU 82

1:45: Foul, Daequon Montreal

1:36: Foul, Daequon Montreal

1:36: Hernst Leroche, one of two free throws, NMSU 90, BSU 82

1:26: Robert Arnold, jumpshot w/ foul, NMSU 90, BSU 85

1:24: Jahmar Young, two of two free throws, NMSU 92, BSU 95

1:10: Daeqon Montreal, jumpshot, NMSU 92, BSU 87

1:05: Jahmar Young, two of two free throws, NMSU 94, BSU 87

1:00: Daeqon Monreal, three-pointer, NMSU 94, BSU 90

0:49: Robert Arnold, two of two free throws, NMSU 94, BSU 92

0:38: Timeout, NMSU

----

Note: Was not expecting this type of finish. BSU has been effective with their hack-an-Aggie strategy in the past two minutes, cutting the Aggies lead down to two. Some turnovers under the basket and sloppy play by the Aggies have led to BSU capitalizing off six points from Aggie turnovers.

----

0:21: Timeout NMSU

0:20: Turnover NMSU

0:13: Turnover BSU

0:10: Timeout BSU

0:10: Hernst Laroche, one of two from the free throw line, NMSU 95, BSU 92

0:01 Timeout, NMSU

0:00: Final score, NMSU 95, BSU 92

Nevada/Hawai'i game on as scheduled

2010-02-27T17:08:00.002-07:00

OK, I guess the danger has passed.
The latest from the U of Hawai'i:
"The University of Hawai‘i men's basketball game versus Nevada will be played as scheduled tonight with the recent announcement of the tsunami warning being lifted. The "Senior Night" game will be played at its regularly scheduled start time of 7:05 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center."

Nevada at Hawai'i cancelled

2010-02-27T16:29:00.003-07:00

The University of Hawai'i website says that all sporting events scheduled for today are cancelled.
From the site:
'The men’s basketball game vs. Nevada is cancelled and no potential make-up date has been determined. If the game is not rescheduled, a ticket refund procedure will be announced for individual game ticket holders early next week."

The monster earthquake in Chile that prompted tsunami warnings in Hawai'i also severed portions of the Pan American Highway. That road happens to run by the Pan American Center, which is named for the storied highway.
The thoughts and prayers the Las Cruces Bulletin go out to our neighbors down the road, even if they are several thousand miles away.

Live blog of tonight's game

2010-02-27T16:17:00.003-07:00

The very dedicated Gabe Vasquez in scheduled to live-blog the Boise State at New Mexico State University game at 7 p.m. tonight from the Pan American Center. Check in to Bulletin in the Zone at gametime.

Saturday's WAC matchups

2010-02-26T13:04:00.004-07:00

Idaho at Louisiana Tech
7 p.m. CST
No longer in the hunt for the regular season WAC championship, LA Tech (21-7, 8-5 WAC) may have to battle to stay in the top four. Reportedly Kyle Gibson suffered an ankle injury in the Bulldogs surprising loss to Boise State – let's hope it's not serious. Gibson's status as a Player-of-the-Year candidate have dimmed in recent weeks. Despite Idaho's (13-14, 4-9) big loss to New Mexico State on Wednesday, the Vandals still have a lot of weapons. I expect the Bulldogs to pull this one out as Idaho is on the second leg of the killer Las Cruces/Rustin road trip.

Boise State at New Mexico State
7 p.m. MST
ESPN360, AggieVision, KTVB-Boise
The Aggies (18-9, 10-3) played their best basketball of the season at Pacific and at home against Idaho. The Broncos (13-15, 3-10) went a long way towards punching their ticket to the WAC tournament by upsetting LA Tech Thursday in Rustin. Unless NMSU (18-9, 10-3) comes out flat on senior night, the Aggies' talent and depth will take care of a road weary Boise State team.

Fresno State at San Jose State
7 p.m. PST
ESPNU
This promises to be a hard-fought battle. Fresno State (14-15, 6-7) will try to ride the talent of Paul George (17.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Sylvester Seay (14.9 ppg, 6.0 rgp) to victory, but San Jose's (13-14, 5-8) Adrian Oliver (23.3 ppg) is making a serious push to be WAC Player of the Year. This ESPNU game should be well worth watching.

Nevada at Hawai'i
7 p.m. Hawai'i time
Comcast Sportsnet California. KFVE, KAME-TV 21
Nevada (17-10, 9-4) seems to be able to pull out close wins in the final minutes – at least against WAC opponents. Hawai'i (9-18, 2-11) has had a host of problems this year and has the inside track at missing the WAC tournament. Nevada has it's eyes set on taking the No. 2 seed in the tournament. This one may be closer that anyone expects, but Nevada will most likely be ahead at the final buzzer.

In the Las Cruces Bulletin

2010-02-26T12:41:00.004-07:00

In this week's Las Cruces Bulletin: Parting Shots: Aggie trio plays final home game

Utah State handles Hawai'i

2010-02-26T06:40:00.005-07:00

Utah State continues their winning streak with a 61-50 win at Hawai'i. With USU's win and Louisiana Tech's loss, LA Tech is eliminated from contention for the regular-season WAC title.
Nevada still may have a slim chance if there is a three way tie at the top and La Tech fails to finish alone in fourth.

Big TU to Parsing the Wac

2010-02-25T22:51:00.005-07:00

BITZ has been remiss in not giving a shout out to Kevin McCarthy, the dean of WAC bloggers, at Parsing the WAC, for giving BITZ a recommendation on his excellent blog.

Nevada wins at San Jose

2010-02-25T22:04:00.003-07:00

Nevada remains in the hunt for second place in the WAC after winning a tight game at San Jose 83-79. A great game for Adrian Oliver, but Nevada made the plays down the stretch.

Upset alert

2010-02-25T20:58:00.002-07:00

Boise State knocked off Louisiana Tech 72-59 in Ruston tonight.
The game was tied at the half 37-37. Magnum Rolle and Kyle Gibson were held to 6 points each and the Bulldogs only shot 9 of 31 in the second half.

Tonight's WAC games – Feb. 25, 2010

2010-02-25T13:49:00.002-07:00

Boise State at Louisiana Tech

7 p.m. CST

LA Tech (21-6, 8-4 Western Athletic Conference) shouldn’t have any trouble with the Broncos (12-15, 2-10), but this is the WAC and anything can happen.

Nevada at San Jose

7 p.m. PST

KAME TV 21, Comcast SportsNet California, ESPN360.com

This is the most important game of the night. The Spartans (13-13, 5-7) play very well at home, having lost only to the Utags. Nevada (16-10, 8-4) doesn’t seem to be playing their best ball right now. I bet they miss Malik Cooke a lot. A loss by the Wolfpack would put them two games behind NMSU for the No. 2 seed in the WAC tournament.

Utah State at Hawai‘i

7 p.m. Hawai‘i time

Is there enough heart in the Warriors (9-17, 2-10) to pull off the upset on the islands?

We doubt it, but as NMSU fans we can hope. Hawai‘i needs a win badly to preserve any hope of making the WAC tournament. Of course, if the Warriors don’t make the tournament, at least they get to stay in Hawai‘i – how bad can that be?

Pictures from NMSU vs. Idaho

2010-02-25T12:58:00.005-07:00

(1) Big Wen – so close to a triple-double!

(2) Jonathan Gibson knocked in three 3-point baskets

(3) Jahmar Young was high scorer with 23 points against the Vandals

(4) Young made it look easy last night

(5) It was Aggies ARE Tough Enough to Wear Pink night at the Pan American Center, but we're not sure that
the guy on the left IS tough enough though.

Photos taken by Richard Davis for the Las Cruces Bulletin.

Live gamecast of NMSU vs. Idaho

2010-02-24T20:57:00.106-07:00

New Mexico State University vs. Idaho Vandals - live gamecast at the Pan American Center.

FINAL SCORE: Aggies 74, Idaho 57

Final recap: Apparently, Aggie students got the memo that tonight's game was nationally televised, and they came out in force. At the end of the game, Aggies coach Marvin Menzies proudly hailed the Aggies' student section as the sixth-man, which may have made Troy Gillenwater a bit disappointed, but definitely happy for the win. A lackluster crowd showed up for tonight's game, but the Aggies still managed to dominate the Idaho Vandals, 74 to 57, with strong support from students.

The story of the night was the Aggies hot 3-point shooting. They were 12-26 from three-point land, with guard Jonathan Gibson, guard Jahmar Young and Gordo Castillo each with 3.

For the Aggies, guard Jahmar Young led all scorers with 23 points, followed by guard Jonathan Gibson with 15 and forward Wendell McKines with 11.
The Vandals' leading scorers were center Kyle Baron with 10 points and guard Kashif Watson, also with 10.

Leading board-grabbers for the Aggies were forward Wendell McKines with 12 and Hamidu Rahman with 11. McKines nearly had a triple double, he also dished out 8 assists.

The Aggies are now 18-9 and 10-3 in WAC Play. Idaho is 13-14 and 4-9 in conference play.

Next up, the Aggies face Boise State University at the Pan American Center, at 7 p.m. MST.

----------

Halftime recap: The New Mexico State Aggies are at their best when they have balanced scoring. In tonight's game at the Pan American Center, guard Jahmar Young has scored 9 points, center Hamidu Rahman has 8 points and Las Cruces Native, guard Gordo Castillo has tallied up 8 points, six from three-point land.

The Idaho Vandals are struggling with the two Aggie bigs, power forward Troy Gillenwater and center Hamidu Rahman. The Aggies have out-rebounded the Vandals 21 to 20, with five of the Aggies' boards coming on the offensive end. Rahman has tallied up 8 boards, and forward Wendell McKines has 4.

Idaho's main scorer, guard Mac Hopson, has 5 points, 3 rebounds and two assists. Idaho guard Kashif Watson leads Idaho with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist.

The Aggies are shooting 54 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point land, and 66 percent from the free-throw line.

The Idaho Vandals are shooting 32 percent from the field, 33 percent from three-point land, and have not attempted any free throws in the first half.

Aggie starters have accounted for Aggies' 30 points in the first half, with the bench pitching in 11.

Idaho's starts have accounted for Vandals' 15 points in the first half, with the bench pitching in 8.

18:38: Wendell McKines jump shot, Aggies 2-0

17:50: Kashif Watson, Idaho, layup. Aggies 2, Idaho 4.

17:08: Kashif Watson, Idaho, block on Jonathan Gibson.

16:55: Hamidu Rahman, NMSU, layup, Aggies 4, Idaho 4.

16:24: Foul on Steffan Johnson, Idaho

16:24: Two free throws made, Jahmar Young. Aggies 6, Idaho 4.

15:45: Marvin Jefferson, Idaho, dunk. Aggies 8, Idaho 6.

14:38: TV Time out

13:00: Hamidu Rahman, layup, Aggies 10, Idaho 10

13:24: Kashif Watson, layup, Aggies 8, Idaho 11

13:38: Mac Hopson, Idaho, three-point basket, Aggies 8, Idaho 9

11:30: Gordo Castillo, three-point basket, Aggies 15, Idaho 11

11:15: Luciano de Soza, Idaho, three-point basket, Aggies 15, Idaho 14

10:32: Troy Gillenwater, three-point basket, Aggies 18, Idaho 14

9:36: Jahmar young, offensive foul

9:15: Jeff ledbetter, Idaho, three-point basket, Aggies 18, Idaho 17

9:00: Shawn Henderson, Idaho, two-point basket, Aggies 18, Idaho 19

8:41: Hernst Laroche, three-point basket, Aggies 21, Idaho 19

7:30: Hamidu Rahman, layup, Aggies 23, Idaho 19

7:24: TV timeout

6:41: Gordo Castillo, three-point basket, Aggies 26, Idaho 19

6:29: 30-second timeout, Idaho

6:15: Marvin Jefferson, Idaho, dunk, Aggies 26, Idaho 21

4:53: Foul on Marvin Jefferson, Idaho

4:36: Jonathan Gibson, three-point basket, Aggies 29, Idaho 21

3:59: Jahmar Young, three-point basket, Aggies 32, Idaho 21

3:07: Jonathan Gibson, foul

3:06: TV timeout

2:35: Hamidu Rahman, foul with two-point basket, Aggies 34, Idaho 21

2:02: Jahmar Young, two-point basket, Aggies 36, Idaho 21

1:16: Foul Luciano de Souza, Idaho

1:13: Mac Hopson, Idaho, Dunk, Aggies 36, Idaho 23

0:31: Hamidu Rahman, layup, Aggies 28, Idaho 23

0:06: Timeout, Aggies

0:02: Wendell McKines, three-point basket, Aggies 41, Idaho 23

0:00 Halftime

-----Start of second half-----

19:44: Foul, Hamidu Rahman

19:44: Marvin Jefferson, Idaho, one of two from the free throw line, Aggies 41, Idaho 24

19:32: Wendell McKines, two free-throw baskets, Aggies 43, Idaho 24

18:51: Foul, Wendell McKines

18:51: Justin Stewart, Idaho, two free-throw baskets, Aggies 43, Idaho 26

18:40: Jahmar Young, three-point basket, Aggies 46, Idaho 26

18:06: Jonathan Gibson, two-point basket, Aggies 48, Idaho 26

17:37: Foul, Jeff Ledbetter, Idaho

17:37: Jahmar Young, missed two free throws

17:25: Kashif Watson, Idaho, two-point basket, Aggies 48, Idaho 28

16:46: Kashif Watson, Idaho, two free-throws made, Aggies 28, Idaho 30

16:36: Jahmar Young, three-point basket, Aggies 51, Idaho 30

15:42: Kyle Barone, dunk, Aggies 51, Idaho 32

15:35: Idaho timeout

15:17: Gordo Castillo, three-point basket, Aggies 54, Idaho 32

14:45: Mac Hopson, layup, Aggies 54, Idaho 36

14:30: Jonathan Gibson, three-point basket, Aggies 57, Idaho 36

13:50: Kyle Barone, Idaho, layup, Aggies 57, Idaho 38

13:00: Jonathan Gibson, dunk, Aggies 59, Idaho 38

12:00: Wendell McKines, layup, Aggies 61, Idaho 38

11:40 Luciano de Souza, three-point basket, Aggies 61, Idaho 43

10:30: Jahmar Young, reverse layup, Aggies 65, Idaho 43

9:40: Shawn Henderson, reverse layup, Aggies 65, Idaho 45

8:38: Foul, Hernst Laroche

8:38: Shawn Henderson, Idaho, made one free-throw baskets, Aggies 65, Idaho 46

7:26: Foul, Gordo Castillo

7:26: Shawn Henderson, basket and a free-throw, Aggies 65, Idaho 49

7:03: Foul, Wendell McKines

7:03: Marvin Jefferson, one of two free-throws, Aggies 65, Idaho 50

6:40: Jahmar Young, dunk, Agies 67, Idaho 50

4:00: Jonathan Gibson, three-point basket, Aggies 70, Idaho 50

3:31: TV timeout

3:06: Kyle Barone, Idaho, layup, Aggies 70, Idaho 52

2:40: Jahmar Young, layup, Aggies 72, Idaho 52

2:00: Jahmar Young, layup, Aggies 74, Idaho 52

1:15: Luciano de Souza, Idaho, three-point basket, Aggies 74, Idaho 55

00:24: Foul, Kelly Merker

00:24: Kyle Barone, two free-throws, Agies 74, Idaho 57

Congratulations Jack Nixon

2010-02-24T20:46:00.002-07:00

I'm listening to Jack Nixon's pregame show, I think all of the staff at the Bulletin would like to congratulate him on reaching 900 games as the "Voice of the Aggies" last Saturday at Pacific.
I'll bet I've listened to at least 800 of his broadcasts.

Aggies play Idaho at home tonight

2010-02-24T06:08:00.003-07:00

The New Mexico State Aggies (17-9, 9-3 Western Athletic Conference) play tonight at home against the Idaho Vandals (13-13,4-8 WAC). Though it looks like it should be a take-care-of-business game, the Vandals must not be taken lightly. Don't forget that in the pre-season polls the Vandals were picked to be among the WAC leaders, and many picked them ahead of NMSU. The Vandals are 6-4 in their last 10 games after starting WAC play at 1-5, including a narrow 72-75 loss to NMSU on Jan. 11. Mac Hopson is scoring a healthy 17.1 ppg and 6.2 rpg in WAC play. Marvin Jefferson has also been solid for the Vandals. In the Vandals most recent outing, a disappointing 66-77 BracketBuster loss at home to Long Beach, Jefferson was 6-out-of-7 from the floor and had 14 rebounds. Unfortunately nobody else showed up for the Vandals.
On another note, I would not expect a big crowd tonight in the Pan American Center. The late start time (9 p.m. MST), coupled with the explosion in the number of big-screen televisions will keep a lot of Aggie fans home watching the game on ESPN2.
I hope that next season the NMSU administration will realize that the core fanbase for the Aggies always has been and always will be the students. Let them out of their end-zone ghettos and back on the side of the court. Other schools (South Florida for instance) have re-examined their seating charts and had positive results.