By Marshall Mecham
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The New Mexico State men’s basketball team (13-13, 6-10 Conference USA) are looking for a season series sweep over Western Kentucky (16-11, 9-7 CUSA) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Aggies defeated the Hilltoppers 80-64 at the Pan American Center Jan. 8.
A victory would put NMSU above .500 and extend its win streak to three. It will not be easy though, as WKU is playing its best basketball of the season. They have won four consecutive games, including a huge 94-73 upset road victory over Liberty Feb. 21 to give the Flames their first conference loss of the year.
Both teams have shown improvement since their last meeting, with the Aggies playing much better as of late. Prior to the two-game win streak, they pulled out a hard-fought 72-63 road victory over Louisiana Tech to snap a four-game losing streak. Following this, they dropped heartbreakers to Liberty and I-10 rival UTEP. But the Aggies’ 79-70 road win over Jacksonville State on Valentine’s Day gave them momentum to get their revenge against the Miners by beating them 67-63 at home Feb. 21.
Jemel Jones is a big reason for the recent success, scoring over 20 points in four of the last five contests. He now has eight games of scoring over 20 points this season and has scored in double figures in 24 of 26 games. The 6’4″ guard is averaging 17.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Jones is also shooting 44% from the field, 39% from three-point range and 84% from the free-throw line. It is no secret he is the Aggies’ best player and one of the top players in CUSA.
A player who has shown drastic improvement for NMSU is Jae’Coby Osborne, who is coming off arguably his best collegiate game yet. The 6’6″ returning forward scored a career-high 12 points, hauled in nine rebounds and shot an efficient 6-for-11 from the field against UTEP.
Even with his improved play, Aggie head coach Jason Hooten said there are more steps for Osborne to take his game to the next level.
“He needs to put on 10 or 15 pounds. If he can get 15 pounds heavier, he’s going to be a problem in this conference,” Hooten said. “He’s got to continue to improve his his three-point shot. People are giving him some good looks and as a player, you got to get to that point where you make people pay for not guarding you.”
As for WKU, guard Teagan Moore will be a problem for NMSU. The 6’5″ guard is averaging 18.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 blocks a night. He is also shooting an astonishing 52% from the field, 41% from behind the arc and 82% from the charity stripe. What makes this all even more impressive are all the injuries he has fought to come back from. After a strong start to his collegiate career, Moore sat out all of last season due to hip surgery from an injury that occurred during the summer prior. He recently made another return to the court after missing five games due to concussion-like symptoms. He has scored over 20 points in each of his first three games back.
Despite not having the season they were anticipating, the Aggies look to use the recent surge to defy the odds and pick up a challenging road win over the Hilltoppers.
Hooten said he appreciates the fans sticking with the team through tough times.
“What it makes you do is just want you to continue to work, continue to get better, continue to build so that you put something out there for them so that we can hopefully pop off next year and be 15-0 here,” Hooten said. “The fans have been amazing.”
According to ESPN Analytics, WKU is 5.5-point favorites to claim victory over NMSU.
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