LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Following the New Mexico State Aggies‘ 76-68 win over UNM, NMSU will again be at home at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, to take on the Samford Bulldogs in one of the opening games of the Cancun Challenge.
Samford will come into the game playing twice as many games as NMSU, with a record of 3-3 compared to the Aggies 3-0 start.
Samford is coming off a 77-62 loss to Florida Gulf Coast University and is led by guard Jadin Booth in scoring, as he is eighth in the nation in that regard with 24.2 points per game. He is also the team leader in steals per game with 1.5.
Keaton Norris leads Samford in assists with six a night, and Dylan Faulkner leads them in rebounds with just under six per game.
The Bulldogs are coached by Lennie Acuff, who has led the team since April 9, 2025, after spending the previous six seasons at Lipscomb University.
Friday’s game will be the first round of the 2025 Cancun Challenge, which includes Utah Valley University, Samford University, Georgia State University, South Dakota State University and lastly UC Irvine, who NMSU lost to 91-74 on the road Nov. 11, 2023.
This is the Aggies second appearance in the Cancun Challenge, as they participated in the same invitational in 2023. They defeated Northern Colorado University 76-71 Nov. 18, at the Pan American Center but lost to Fresno State University 81-76 Nov. 21, in overtime and Southern Illinois University 81-54 Nov. 22, in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
Following the Samford game, the Aggies will head south to Riviera Maya to take on UC Irvine at 6:30 p.m. MT Tuesday, Nov. 25, and Georgia State University at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26.
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