NMSU men will wrap up nonconference play at home against UT Permian Basin

THE OPENING TIP
• Hoping to close out non-conference play on a six-game winning streak, the NM State men's basketball team takes the court of the Pan American Center for the second time in 72 hours when the Aggies host UT Permian Basin Monday night at 7:00 p.m.
• The inaugural meeting between Aggies and Falcons will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
• The play-by-play and analysis combo of Adam Young and former NM State player Joe Garza are set to narrate the action on ESPN+ stream. Over the airwaves, legendary radio play-by-play man Jack Nixon will set up shop courtside to call the action.
• Nixon's play-by-play and analysis can be heard on 99.5 Zia Country FM in Las Cruces, N.M., and nationwide on The Varsity Network app.
• Affiliate stations of the Aggie Sports Network can be tuned in to in Artesia, N.M. (990 AM), Carlsbad, N.M. (1240 AM), Gallup, N.M. (94.9 FM), Alamogordo, N.M. (103.7 FM) and El Paso, Texas (1380 AM). All of those stations will also carry Nixon's commentary of Monday night's tilt.
• Fans who purchase a ticket for Monday night's showdown prior to and on the day of the game will receive one free general admission ticket to NM State's WAC home game against Chicago State on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022.

FAST BREAK POINTS
• For the third time under head coach Chris Jans and for the seventh time in the history of the program, NM State has won 10 of its first 12 games to start the season.
• NM State previously got out to 10-2 starts under Jans in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
• Seven NM State teams - the most recent one in 2018--19 - started 10-2 through their first 12 games. Only five other teams put forth a better record through their first 12 games.
• NM State is 5-0 in the month of December. Eight NM State teams have gone undefeated in the month of December, most recently the 2016-17 edition of the Aggies.
• NM State has won each of its last six true road games dating back to 2020-21. That's the second-longest active winning streak in true road games in the nation, trailing only Gonzaga and West Virginia (seven-straight true road wins).
• NM State is one of just 33 NCAA Division I teams who have not lost a true road game this season (of those who have played one).
• In Chris Jans' tenure as head coach, NM State is 36-12 (.750) in true road games.
• NM State's five-game winning streak is the 19th-longest active streak in the nation and the third-longest among all WAC clubs.
• NM State's 10 wins so far in 2021-22 are the eighth-most by any team in the nation and the most of any WAC team.
• NM State's collective field goal percentage of .476 ranks 50th in the nation and second among all WAC teams.
• NM State has seen a dip in its accuracy from three-point range as of late. Over the last four games, the Aggies are shooting 18-of-84 (.214) from long range.
• Redshirt junior guard Jabari Rice is coming off a season-high 22-point outing in NM State's win at Washington State (Dec. 15). When Rice scores 20 or more points in a game, NM State is 9-1.
• Redshirt senior forward Johnny McCants does a little bit of everything, but he's among the nation's best in terms of close-range shots. The Las Cruces, N.M., product ranks third among all NCAA Division I players in two-point field goal percentage (79.4-percent, 27-of-34). Another notable name in the top ten in that statistical category is Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren (sixth, .786).
• High-scoring guard Teddy Allen leads NM State in scoring at a rate of 17.5 points per game and also ranks 19th nationally in free throw percentage (.907). The Phoenix, Ariz., product also sits among the top 25 players nationally in field goal attempts (17th, 174).
• NM State possesses three wins against teams who are currently among the top 55 in the latest edition of the NET rankings. The Aggies have defeated Davidson (52), UC Irvine (53) and Washington State (48) so far this season.
• With Jans leading the way, the Aggies have posted a 6-6 (.500) record against Power Five opponents. That mark includes a 6-4 (.600) showing against Power Five foes in regular-season tilts. NM State has secured wins over Illinois, Miami, Mississippi State and Washington State (three times) under Jans' direction since 2017-18.
• NM State head coach Chris Jans returned to the bench on Friday, Dec. 3 for the Aggies' game at UTEP. The team's fifth-year bench boss had previously missed its last two games due to COVID-19 protocols.
• In Nov. 30's loss against New Mexico, the Aggies gave up 100 or more points to the opposition for the first time in the Chris Jans coaching era. Before Tuesday, the last time NM State let a foe hit the century mark came in 2017 when it claimed a 107-101 WAC win at UTRGV on Feb. 18. Since 2010, only three NM State opponents (Nevada, New Mexico and UTRGV) have amassed 100 or more points in a game.
• Now in his fifth season in an NM State uniform, Johnny McCants has broken into the program's top-ten leaders in blocked shots. McCants, a Las Cruces, N.M., product has 96 rejections to his credit as a collegian which are the ninth-most all-time by any Aggie. He is hoping to become the eighth player in program history to record 100 or more blocked shots in a career.

LAST TIME OUT | NM State 93, Northern New Mexico 60 | Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021
• Northern New Mexico scored the first points of the game on a three-pointer less than a minute in, but NM State took control after that by going on a 24-0 run to cruise to a 93-60 win over the Eagles Saturday evening inside the Pan American Center.
• Three of the Aggies' regular starters - Johnny McCants, Nate Pryor and Jabari Rice - did not suit up (rest), letting the rest of the Aggies take center stage as NM State sought to improve its bench play.
• Teddy Allen, though, did start and neared a triple-double in his 27 minutes of action. The guard out of Phoenix, Ariz., finished with a game-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
• Allen's scoring effort was one of five double-digits outings from various Aggies on the roster. Freshman Marchelus Avery impressed in his first start as an NM State player, going for 17 points on a 7-of-12 effort from the field. Avery added eight rebounds, too, and was one of three NM State players who amassed eight or more boards.
• No Aggie took to the sky for more rebounds than Mario McKinney Jr. The guard racked up a game and career-high 12 rebounds in 28 minutes of action.
• Yuat Alok used his superior size to score at will throughout the game, too. The 6'11 forward finished with 16 points on a 6-of-8 effort from the field and was one of two players on the Aggies' bench who finished with double-digit points.
• With Allen, Avery and McKinney manning things on the glass, NM State enjoyed a 51-32 (+19) rebounding edge over the Eagles. The Aggies' 51 rebounds were a season-high and the most in a game for the team since 2018.
• Clayton Henry got his first extended action of the season in Saturday's win, too, playing 23 minutes and finshing with three points, four rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. Henry missed the team's first nine games of the season in order to rehab a foot injury he suffered in summer workouts.
• Virshon Cotton made his first on-court appearance for the Aggies since Nov. 21, 2021, and went for a season-high 11 points on a 4-of-10 shooting night. Cotton dished out a trio of assists in the victory as well.
• NM State's 33-point margin of victory was its largest of the season and its most lopsided win since defeating Benedictine Mesa by a 91-57 score on Dec. 1, 2020.
• NM State forced 21 turnovers in the win, marking the first time an opponents has thrown the ball away 20 or more times in a game since Dec. 29, 2019 (also Northern New Mexico).

SCOUTING UT PERMIAN BASIN | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• In his first season as the Falcons' head coach, Kyle Tolin has an 8-3 record in hand as he leads his program into the Pan American Center in the hopes of scoring a big-time upset.
• North Dakota State transfer Jordan Horn will be making his second appearance inside the Pan American Center Monday night, this time in a Falcons uniform. The guard leads the team in scoring at a clip of 18.5 points per game.
• In addition to Horn, Miles Daniels (15.0 ppg) and DaJuan Jones (14.2 ppg) are two other key scoring pieces for the Falcons. Jones has made a name for himself as one of the best distributors in NCAA Division II, dishing out assists at a rate of 8.7 per game.
• UT Permian Basin's offense puts in points at a rate of 82.2 per game and its three losses this season have come by a combined total of eight points.
• Monday night's contest will go in the books as an exhibition game for UT Permian Basin.

COMING UP NEXT
• Before the calendar flips to 2022, NM State sets out on another journey to the Pacific Northwest to start Western Athletic Conference (WAC) action. The Aggies begin their 18-game slate of WAC tilts Thursday, Dec. 30, at 8:00 p.m. when they take on Seattle U inside the Redhawk Center.