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.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Tonight's WAC games – March 4, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Do be sure to check out Parsing the WAC for KM's always informative linkfinding.
Is that a brand-new verb?
Is that a brand-new verb?
Comments from Tuesday's press conference
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.
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
(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.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Utags frazzle Fresno
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).
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).
Monday, March 1, 2010
Senior night at the Pan Am
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.
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.
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