LAS CRUCES N.M. — NMSU basketball play-by-play announcer Jack Nixon broadcast his final home game March 1—a critical 65-47 victory over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
Nixon was honored at halftime and gave a short speech. Aggie fans rose to their feet to respect Nixon and all the hard work he has put in for the program throughout the near half century. Nixon has been in the business for over 45 years and has called many memorable basketball games, like the 70-63 upset win over the UConn Huskies in the 2022 NCAA tournament.
Nixon has loved covering the Aggies in his last year before retiring and has made more memories recently.
“People in town have been very nice in remarking about my career,” Nixon said. “The games have been fun to call for the most part with the overtime win over the Lobos being sweet.”
Even though Nixon won’t be the play-by-play announcer once the season is over, he still has plans to finish in Las Cruces.
“I will still work for BRAVO MIC radio as their news director,” Nixon said. “I couldn’t imagine living anywhere but Las Cruces.”
Nixon’s outstanding play-by-play announcing career will not soon be forgotten.
In addition to it being Nixon’s last home game, it was also Senior Day. There are nine seniors on the Aggie roster who played their final home game as a collegiate athlete, so getting a win for both themselves and Nixon was an incredible way to go out.
Once again, the Aggies’ defense is what got the job done. They held the Hilltoppers to shoot just 26.9% from the field, including only 25% from three. Holding them under 50 points also helped secure the win. This showed major improvement from the last time the two teams faced off, when the Hilltoppers went for 101 points in a 32-point victory.
As for the Aggies’ key players, Peter Filipovity stepped up once again. He scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, which was also a team-high to secure a double-double. Robert Carpenter and Zawdie Jackson both had solid performances as well, putting up 10 points and four rebounds each.
The Aggies looked like a different team with the Tshimanga brothers in the starting lineup. The Aggies are now 4-1 with both Nate and Emmanuel together. Peter Filipovity being back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench for a few games after returning from a sickness proved to be a good move by head coach Jason Hooten. Another player who has earned valuable minutes as of late was Jae’Coby Osborne, who showed impressive defense as a freshman.
Home wins have been hard to come by for the Aggies recently, but with this win, they still managed to earn a respectable 9-6 home record on the season. With this win, they have ensured a .500 win percentage for the season as well, which shows how well Hooten has rebuilt this program.
There have been moments where the Aggies have struggled to maintain double-digit point leads, but this game was not one of them. They will look to continue their winning ways in the final two road games of the season going into the Conference USA tournament. They have the best road conference record in CUSA with a mark of 5-2.
“We’re gonna put ourselves in position with these next two games to get a really good seed,” Hooten said to the Aggie faithful moments before the Senior Day ceremony.
Hooten said something similar in the post game press conference.
“I hope we can win these two next week and three in the tournament and go to the NCAAs.”
With the win, the Aggies improved to 16-13 overall including a 9-7 conference record.
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