Nephawe injured

Marvin Menzies said on Thursday that center Tshilidzi Nephawe did undergo surgery sometime in the past week for an injury in his right hand, believed to be torn ligaments in the thumb. It sounds like it's not clear if he will return or not this season. Perhaps he could return to the lineup sometime before the end of WAC play, but that's a guess.

I've been wanting to see more of Renaldo Dixon, and he figures to be next in line to back up Sim Bhullar, which could be a fine duo in conference play. Against the Lobos I'm not sure. Dixon vs. 6-9 Bairstow could be an important matchup in the game.

I also asked about Daniel Mullings, who still is on a liquid diet with a wired jaw.

"Daniel is better but he's still not Daniel," Menzies said. "There is a fatigue factor and a nutrition factor."

UNM: Five keys for NMSU at Lobos

Rivalry series often consist of peaks and valleys, especially one that dates back to 1904.

New Mexico has certainly enjoyed the lion’s share of recent success against New Mexico State on the basketball court. The Lobos had won seven straight against the Aggies prior to last season, when the Aggies won for the first time at The Pit since 2002. The teams still split the series last year as the Lobos won at the Pan American Center to record their eighth victory in the last nine meetings with NMSU.

Here are five things the Aggies have to do to swing the rivalry back to their favor when the teams meet again on Saturday at The Pit in Albuquerque:

Closing time: The Lobos have certainly earned their 10-0 record and No. 17 ranking. UNM won 28 games last year, winning 22 games by a double-digit margin. The Lobos have already won six games by double digits this season, including come-from-behind efforts against Davidson and George Mason. The biggest difference between the in-state rivals this year appears to be their ability in the final minutes. Whether it’s discipline, execution or just good luck, the Lobos have found ways to grind out wins while the Aggies have lost second-half leads to Niagara and UTEP. Even in a road win at South Alabama on Dec. 4, the Aggies nearly lost a 17-point advantage. NMSU was 6-for-10 from the foul line in the last eight minutes, but the Jaguars were equally inept at 5-for-12 in the second half. The Aggies haven’t struggled in the opening minutes this season. If they are fortunate enough to build a lead on the road on Saturday, the Aggies won’t emerge victorious if their streaky play down the stretch continues.

Win the 3-point battle: The Aggies held the Lobos to 28 percent shooting from the floor last year in a 62-53 victory at The Pit, the lowest percentage for a Steve Alford team. UNM was 7-for-19 from the 3-point line, including off nights for key returners Kendall Williams (0-for-4), Tony Snell (3-for-6) and Demetrius Walker (1-for-2). The Lobos score 27 percent of their 73 points per game from 3-point range and shoot 33 percent from 3-point range. Guarding the 3 has been an Aggies’ strength for the past two years, illustrated by Bandja Sy’s game-sealing block of Phillip McDonald’s 3-point attempt in the final minute last year. Sy and sophomore guard Daniel Mullings match up well against Snell and Williams. The Aggies would also be served well by hitting a few 3s of their own as UNM opponents have shot 34 percent against the Lobos from 3-point range. Mullings has knocked down open shots this year, shooting 57 percent from 3-point range this year. His teammates need to do the same.

Limit turnovers: Turnovers have been coming fast and at inopportune times for the Aggies this season. NMSU turns the ball over 25 percent of the time or 17 times per game. The Aggies committed 17 turnovers against South Alabama. UNM doesn’t pressure teams into turnovers, forcing just 13 per game, but the Lobos have length on the wings that can easily make the Aggies pay for lazy passes. 

Free throw disparity: The Lobos are taking a page out of NMSU’s playbook from a year ago, using the free throw line to its advantage. The difference is the Lobos are not only getting to the foul line, but shooting 76.6 percent from the line, ranking 18th nationally. UNM leads the country with 21.6 made free throws per game and the Lobos are third with 28.2 free throw attempts per game. The Aggies attempt 25 free throws per game so NMSU can neutralize the Lobos at the line if they improve on the 66 percent mark from the line so far this season.

For WAC’s sake: The Western Athletic Conference is starving for quality wins and a victory over the No. 17 Lobos would be the league’s best win by a wide margin. The WAC was 37-37 overall entering Monday. The Mountain West by contrast has been among the best leagues in the country, going 57-16 in the non conference with a number of signature wins and a No. 5 RPI ranking. NMSU can boast the league’s best win with a 68-60 win against Southern Mississippi, along with Louisiana Tech’s victory over the same Southern Miss team and a Utah State victory over Santa Clara.

Weekly WAC rankings

Still hard to get a good idea. Utah State and Seattle aren't playing and San Jose isn't playing anybody.
I still can't get La. Tech over Utah State despite the difference in games played and I'm wondering how good that Southern MIss team is after losing road games to two WAC schools last week as the WAC enters this week 36-36 with some non-Div I games mixed in there.

Aggies/Lobos and San Jose/Santa Clara are games to watch this week.

We will get a better idea on San Jose this week. They played on the road at Kansas but other than that, another weak schedule in the WAC. They host a 6-2 Santa Clara team this week, probably a better indicator of how they will do in the WAC. Santa Clara lost by two to Utah State.


Rank                          Previous                      Last week                                   This week           
1. Utah State (5-1)        1                        W  W. Oregon                                       Sat @ Utah Valley

2. La. Tech (8-2)           2                    L @ NW State, W vs. S. Miss    Wed @ McNeese St. Mon @ Little Rock

3. NMSU (5-4)              3                      W @ S. Alabama                                     Sat @ New Mexico

4. Arlington (4-2)           4                     W @Texas Pan American                        Thurs. Houston Baptist

5. Denver (2-5)             7                   W Mercer                                                   Sat. Neb.-Omaha

6. San Jose St. (5-3)     8                 W Cal Davis, W Sac St.                               Tue. Santa Clara

7. UTSA (3-6)               5               L @ Miss. State, L S. Carolina Upstate

8. Idaho (3-5)                6              W @ E. Wash., L @ UTEP                            Sat. Walla Walla

9. Texas State (4-5)      9          L Oral Roberts, W Texas Pan American      Sat @ Texas, Mon @ Northwestern

10. Seattle (2-3)            10                                            Mon. @ E Wash, Thurs. Washington, Mon Jackson St.

NMSU with first road win

The New Mexico State men’s basketball team picked up its first road win of the season, beating South Alabama 58-52 in Mobile, Ala., on Tuesday.

“I feel fortunate to get out of  here with a win based on our recent history to finish games,” Aggies coach Marvin Menzies said. “I knew it would be a close game. I wasn’t sure who would have the lead in the last four minutes. We got stops when we needed them.”

The Aggies led by six at halftime and held off the Jaguars to improve to 5-4 on the season. Aggies senior Bandja Sy stole an attempted backdoor pass by Jaguars guard Freddie Goldstein with 20 seconds left and the Aggies leading by three.

South Alabama entered the game shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. The Jaguars were 5-for-17 (29 percent) from long range on Tuesday and 32 percent from the floor.

“We didn’t have great offensive execution,” Menzies said. “We have to get out point guards and bigs in sync. It was a plus for us the way we defended the 3-point line, 29 percent is huge. Our defense has been carrying us.”

Leading by six at halftime, NMSU turned the ball over on seven of its first 10 possessions in the second half after committing seven turnovers in the first half. South Alabama closed to within two with 15:34 to play but the Aggies answered with a 9-2 run that pushed the lead back to nine with 11:10 to play.

Neither team was good at the foul line — NMSU was 9-for-18, but the Aggies made just enough, 6-for-10, in the last eight minutes to hold the Jaguars off. South Alabama closed to within two with two minutes to play but the Jaguars were just 9-for-17 from the line.

Sy had 11 points and 14 rebounds as the Aggies shot 48 percent from the floor. Daniel Mullings led the Aggies with 13 points and Sim Bhullar had 12 points in 16 minutes.

The Aggies led 31-25 at halftime after leading by 17 with 8:08 left in the first half. Five of NMSU’s seven first-half turnovers were in the last eight minutes as the Jaguars closed to five on an Augustine Rubit follow with three seconds left.

Rubit’s bucket was one of few easy looks for the Jaguars, who started 3-for-19 and shot 30 percent from the floor in the first half while NMSU was 52 percent. South Alabama was 1-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half. 

The Aggies went up 17-4 on a Watson floater with 12:50 left in the first half to cap a 15-0 NMSU run. Terrel de Rouen drove to the basket for another lay in to put NMSU up 23-6 with 8:08 to play in the half as part of a 21-2 NMSU run.

South Alabama: Three keys and a prediction

 NMSU started the 2007-08 season 0-7 on the road. That included losses at Duke, Louisville, Texas and WEst Virginia on a neutral court and road losses to UNM and UTEP. Probably the hardest schedule under Menzies.

NMSU is 0-4 on the road this year entering tonight's game at Sun Belt's South Alabama.

Defend the 3: South Alabama shoots 40 percent from 3-point range and score 32 percent of their 74 points per game from the 3. The Aggies hold opponents to 30 percent from 3 so tonight should be a good test.  Junior guard Xavier Roberson shoots 50 percent from 3, Senior Freddie Goldstein shoots 28 percent and junior Antoine Allen shoots 39 percent. Guard Mychal Ammons is another big guard at 6-6 who scores 12 ppg and shoots 53 percent from 3 but on just 17 attempts.

Mirror Southern Miss game plan: Like Southern Miss, South Alabama is an undersized team that likes to play fast, 72 possessions per 40 minutes. I don't think the Aggies will face full court pressure the entire game though like they did against Southern MIss, however. Sim Bhullar played like the 7-5 monster he is, on both ends of the floor. Chili Nephawe was also good. If the Aggies are to play an extended period of time without Nephawe down the line, I think the Aggies have players in Dixon and Barry who could compliment Bhullar. NMSU scored 34 points in the paint against Southern Miss and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds and shoot nearly 70 percent at the foul line. That's a good formula for a road win.

Turnovers: Continues to be a key for this team. NMSU got away with 20 turnovers at home, but I would say 20 plus turnovers cost the Aggies road wins at Niagara and UTEP. South Alabama forces about 17 turnovers per game.

South Alabama has two Sun Belt wins already so they have played meaningful games. They have experienced players, but the fact that South Alabama wants to play fast plays into the Aggies preferred style. It's slow teams that NMSU struggles with.

Final score, New Mexico State 70, South Alabama 62

Weekly WAC rankings

Utah State has played five games but they have a big one against BYU this week. While other teams have been playing games, USU has been practicing, which is a good thing for Stew and a new team. Louisiana Tech continues to rack up wins against no name teams, but the Bulldogs are 7-1. Appleby had 34 against Georgia State. 

Aggies jump up by virtue of Denver losing to Southern Miss, a team NMSU beat, although the Aggies  had Southern Miss at home while Denver traveled. 

Other notes, Arlington beat North Texas, but North Texas also lost to Louisiana. Perhaps Stephen Madison is a capable second scorer for Idaho 21 vs. Cal Davis. Denver with the worst record but with the toughest schedule. 

Rank Team (W-L)               Previous              Last week                                                       This week              

1. Utah State (4-1) 1            W @ Santa Clara Wed @ BYU, Sat vs W. Oregon

2. La. Tech (7-1) 2         W vs. SE La., W @ Ga. St.               Tues @ NW State, Sat. vs. S. Miss.

3. NMSU  (4-4) 5 L @ UTEP, Sat., W S. Miss                           Tues @ South Alabama

4. UT-Arlington (3-2) 6       W @ N. Texas, L @ Texas, Mon @ Texas Pan Am,

5. UTSA (3-4) 3 L @ Oregon, L @ Bakersfield          Tues. @ Miss. St, Sat. @ SC Upstate

 6. Idaho (2-4)                7 L @ Wash. St, W vs. Cal Davis                   Thurs. @ E. Wash, Sat. @ UTEP

7. Denver (1-5) 4 L. @ S. Miss, L @ Stanford                 Wed. vs. Mercer

8. San Jose State (3-3) 9 L @Kansas, W @ Montana St Wed. @ Cal-Davis, Sat. vs. Sac St.

9. Texas State (3-4) 10 L vs. Utah                         Wed. vs. Oral Roberts, Sat. vs. Texas Pan Am

 10. Seattle (2-3) 8 L @ Stanford, L vs. Boise

Sim Bhullar's brother in town to watch brother's career night

Sim Bhullar posted a career high 17 points with 7 rebounds and two blocks in New Mexico State's 68-60 victory over Southern Miss. Among those in attendance was 7-3 2014 prospect and younger brother, Tanveer Bhullar.

Saturday was an unofficial visit, coming to Las Cruces for the first time with his mother, who was in town for the second time as the family surprised Bhullar for his 20th birthday on Sunday.

"He thought that KC's family was going to come. So KC told him to drive him to the airport to pick up his family and we were there. He said this is the most surprised he has ever been in his entire life," Tanveer Bhullar said.

Tanveer Bhullar reclassified as a 2014 prospect. He attends Father Henry Carr in Toronto.

"I think we are 9-0 right now and we are the No. 1 team in Canada," Tanveer Bhullar said. "After high school basketball, I will just be working out and get ready for AAU."

Bhullar said the Aggies have offered him. Having his older brother on the roster is an obvious selling point, underscored by a very good performance by the Aggies in a win over a good Southern Miss team.

"It gives me a chance to look at the school. If I have questions about the school, I can just ask my brother. I know some of the Canadian guys on the staff and I know coach Weir well."

Bhullar said Eastern Michigan, Rice, Jacksonville State are among the schools who have offered. The only high majors so far are Seton Hall and Providence.

I asked Bhullar to evaluate what he has seen so far from Sim Bhullar as a college player.

"I can just see that he hasn't been playing like he used to play. Tonight is how he used to play. He lost a lot of weight (70 pounds). I'm surprised. I can see when they push him, he can't push back. I've been watching the games online."

The fact that the Aggies have been to two NCAA Tournaments in three years helps.

"It's always a positive because every year the school is going to develop more and more."

Tanveer looks like, and sounds like his brother. I asked about their playing style.

"People have told me I'm more finesse. I don't dunk the ball like he does. That's something I have to work on."