Aggies take to the road, hoping to return WAC champs

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This road trip loomed large when the schedule came out over the summer.

It's been upgraded to gargantuan now that the New Mexico State men's basketball team has positioned itself for a Western Athletic Conference regular season title and the No. 1 seed for next week's conference tournament.

The Aggies enter the final weekend of the regular season with a 19-9 overall record and 11-3 in the WAC. They play Nevada (17-11, 9-5) on Thursday at 8 p.m. Win that game and a conference title shot against first-place Utah State (24-6, 13-2 WAC) awaits in Logan, Utah at 7 p.m., on Saturday, where the UtAgs haven't lost in 13 games.

"I think the Nevada game is one that will keep the guys full attention so I'm not too worried about them looking ahead," said Aggies coach Marvin Menzies, who is one win shy of his second 20-win season in his three years at NMSU. "With that being said, the thought of having that opportunity (is) looming. What you have to do is win or lose (today), you have to play the type of basketball you are capable of on Saturday regardless."

New Mexico State opened WAC play with a 55-52 win over Utah State at the Pan American Center on Jan. 2. Two days later, Nevada sophomore forward Luke Babbitt had 26 points and 11 rebounds on 10 of 14 shooting in a 77-67 win over the Aggies on Jan. 4.

"It was far back but we know both of them really well," Aggies junior guard Gordo Castillo said. "They have changed a little but are still the same teams.
We just have to re-focus and go over the scout again and go over some film and we should be fine."

Nevada and Utah State each have dominant interior players. Utah State forward Tai Wesley scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the first matchup.

"Wesley uses his weight pretty good and he has his own particular moves and I know the certain situations that he is going to use those moves," Aggies junior forward Wendell McKines said. "Babbitt is pretty much a three playing a four. You just want to stay physical with him."

Neither Nevada or Utah State had to play against the Aggies with 6-foot-8 redshirt sophomore Troy Gillenwater in the lineup. Nevada outrebounded NMSU 38-29 and shot 52.5 percent from the floor.

"Adding Troy to the roster since we played them should be a benefit for us and give a little more depth in areas where we didn't do well last time," Menzies said.

Gillenwater adds another dimension off the bench to compliment McKines and redshirt sophomore center Hamidu Rahman.

"I know it has to suck for other teams to have to deal with me and Hamidu and Troy off the bench," McKines said. "It's just another great weapon that we have. We just have to put everything together and stay defensive minded."

Although it has been two months since the Aggies played Nevada and Utah State, at this point of the season, teams aren't going to deviate from their identity, Menzies said.

Nevada and New Mexico State are tied atop the league in scoring with 78.6 points per game. The Aggies are giving up a league-worst 77.8 points per game while the Wolf Pack are eighth, allowing 74.5 per game. Nevada is second in field goal percentage (48 percent) while the Aggies are fifth (46 percent).

"We have a pretty clear picture as to who we are right now," Menzies said. "We are pretty focused in on the final product and just need to fine tune a few things."

While the Aggies are trying to win a regular season championship this weekend, the Wolf Pack still have hopes of at least a No. 2 seed for the WAC tournament next week in Reno.

Nevada's title hopes faded when Utah State defeated Fresno State 76-39 on Monday. The UtAgs' victory came after Nevada dropped a road game at 3-11 Hawaii on Saturday, a contest that was originally canceled due to weather. The game was ultimately played.

"They had a lot of curveballs thrown at them," Menzies said. "Hawaii was due to beat somebody there but I think the added distractions Nevada had to deal with, with the game being canceled and back on, it had to have affected their preparation and routine," Menzies said. "Being in those shoes before, I know it can take its toll."

The Aggies are 4-2 in the WAC this year and 7-0 in games decided by six points or less. They have proven capable of winning a conference championship and now have a chance to win a regular season championship for the second time in three years after they tied for the title two years ago.

"If we want to go down in history, we have to get through this road trip," McKines said. "It's really important considering where we came from at the beginning of the year to finish as regular season champs. That would be a big accomplishment and give us a lot of confidence going in the tournament knowing we are No. 1."

 

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Pack basketball analysis: Five fixes necessary before WAC Tournament



Nevada basketball coach David Carter felt like his team was in the perfect place before its trip to Hawaii.

The Wolf Pack had won four straight WAC games, two coming on the road, and had a spirited practice the night before its game against the 'Bows on Saturday.

"When we took the trip on Friday and practiced Friday night, I was really excited about the energy we had and was really looking forward to the game," Carter said Tuesday. "To be honest with you, I thought we had momentum going into Hawaii. We had won four straight conference games, so I felt like the momentum was building and we were headed in the right direction."

Of course, that momentum disappeared with its 74-63 loss to Hawaii, likely the team's worst setback of the season.

Carter said the weird circumstances surrounding the game -- it was briefly postponed because of a tsunami warning -- didn't help the Wolf Pack's cause, but the loss did quell some of the momentum it had built up.

Now, Nevada (17-11 overall, 9-5 WAC) doesn't have much time left in the season before the all-important WAC Tournament, which is March 11-13 and will determine the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.

Below are five issues Nevada needs to resolve before next week's WAC Tournament.

1. Find leadership it takes to win a conference title

Former Nevada basketball coach Mark Fox used to say that he didn't recruit good players, he recruited winning players -- and that started with finding players with leadership qualities.

Fox said last year's team lacked some leadership because of its youth, and Carter said this year's team still is searching for leadership to emerge.

"That's something that I think we still need, that Kevinn Pinkney and Chad Bell-type leader," Carter said. "The kind of guy who will do all of the little things. Those guys don't get a lot of attention from the media, but they get on the floor and dig out loose balls and will do anything you need that night. Those kind of guys are really valuable, and the more of them you have, the better."Only two current Wolf Pack players -- Armon Johnson and Brandon Fields -- have played significant roles on teams that have won WAC championships, so the roster isn't deep with championship pedigree.

2. Have role players find some consistency

If you want to know if the Wolf Pack will win, all you usually have to do is look at the productivity of the team's role players (Fields, Joey Shaw, Dario Hunt and Ray Kraemer), which has been up and down.

After scoring in double figures in seven of the team's first 10 games, Shaw has reached the mark only eight times in the past 18 games. Fields recently fought off a deep slump and Hunt has battled foul trouble all season.

Carter said getting the Pack's role players going will be integral to finishing the season strong.

"That's obviously going to be a big key for us," Carter said. "I think Brandon has pulled out of his slump and I have liked the energy Joey has been playing with lately, but we do need those guys to play with more consistency along with Ray and Dario. We can't leave everything on Luke and Armon."

3. Stop playing to the level of its competition

Eight of the Wolf Pack's past 12 games have been decided by six points or fewer or went to overtime. No matter who Nevada has played lately, the game has tended to come down to the final few possessions.

Carter said the team has played to its level of competition to a certain extent, but a lack of depth this year also has kept games close.

"We haven't been able to consistently play at the same level every game and a lot of that goes back to playing only six or seven guys," Carter said. "When you play six or seven guys, you can't do some of the things you want to do. If Joey or Brandon or Dario, or even Luke and Armon, are having an off day or if you need to give them a little push, we don't have the depth to sit them down and put somebody else in who is going to be able to give us the same level of play. When you have a depth issue like that, you aren't going to be able to play as consistently as you'd like."

4. Prove it can play top-level defense

If the Wolf Pack has had one glaring weakness this season, it has been a defense that has allowed opponents to make 44.3 percent of its shots (the highest number a Nevada team has allowed in seven seasons).

Rebounding also has been an issue and both of those ailments bit the Wolf Pack in its double-digit loss to Hawaii.

Nevada allowed the 'Bows -- the worst shooting team in the WAC -- to have its best shooting night of the conference season. Hawaii made 25-of-47 shots (53.2 percent), including of 8-of-13 3-pointers. The 'Bows also took a 34-23 advantage on the boards.

"They made a lot of shots that maybe they don't usually make, but we still have to take responsibility for our play," Carter said. "We have to learn from that game and improve from that game."

5. Show it has the toughness to win three games in three days

This is something the Wolf Pack won't be able to do until next week's tournament, but Carter said the process begins now.

With games against top WAC teams New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech on the docket this week, the Wolf Pack will get a nice test in its arena before heading into the conference tournament.

Carter said there's one thing, above all else, that he wants to see in this week's games.

"Consistency," Carter said. "I want us to play 40 good minutes. I want us to play well in back-to-back games and build some momentum. I know we have that level of play in us, we just have to go out and do it."