Utah State Hoping To Close Regular Season With Seventh Straight Win
Feb 28, 2020, 6:44 PM
(Utah State Athletics)
(Utah State Athletics)
LOGAN, Utah – The Utah State Aggies will search for their seventh straight victory when they travel to New Mexico to face the Lobos in the regular season finale on Saturday night.
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Utah State is holding a 23-7 overall record and 12-5 in the Mountain West Conference. They are tied for second place in the standings. The Aggies are 4-5 away from home this season.
New Mexico has a 17-13 overall mark and are 6-11 in conference play. They are seventh in the Mountain West standings. The Lobos have a 14-3 record at home.
The Aggies have a 26-11 all-time record over the Lobos, including a 7-7 record as conference foes and since that time, they are 2-4 in New Mexico.
This is the only meeting between these two teams this season.
Utah State Hoping To Seal No. 2 Seed In MWC Tourney
The Aggies are tied for second place in the Mountain West standings along with Nevada. The Aggies beat the Wolf Pack in the only meeting this season at home back on January 11 with an 80-70 victory.
The only way that Nevada can snatch the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West Conference Tournament next week is if the Aggies lose at New Mexico and the Wolf Pack can get the upset win over No. 5 San Diego State. If both teams win, Utah State will take the No. 2 seed.
In the Mountain West Conference Tournament format, the top three seeds will have a bye in the first round.
The Aggies could potentially face either New Mexico or San Jose State in the second round of the conference tournament.
Utah State is coming off of dominating 94-56 win over San Jose State on Senior Night on Tuesday.
Looking for an exclamation point as we punctuate the 2019-20 regular season at New Mexico on Saturday night! #AggiesAlltheWayhttps://t.co/4BB86qWafV
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) February 28, 2020
Lobos Are Struggling
New Mexico had an eight game winning streak from November 26 to December 29. Since then, the Lobos have lost 11 of their last 15 games including a five-game losing streak that they are currently on. Also, they have lost 8 of their last 9. The only win in February came against the Wyoming Cowboys who are currently in last place in the Mountain West Conference.
They are a well-balanced team with five players averaging double figures in scoring. JaQuan Lyle leads all scorers with 15.3 points per game along with 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per contest. Carlton Bragg Jr. ended his season with a 12.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game average before being dismissed from the team on January 13 after being arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.
Corey Manigault is posting 12 points and 4.7 boards per game.
Tomorrow's SENIOR NIGHT is Lobos Love Pink! Tip off vs (RV) Utah State at 8 p.m. MT inside Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit. #GoLobos https://t.co/Z5Hij42xxp
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) February 29, 2020
Aggies NCAA Tournament Hopes
Part of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee process is the information compiled from five major metrics, the NET rankings, the three metrics from ESPN, including Strength of Record, BPI and RPI. The final two metrics that are used are the rankings from KenPom and Sagarin.
Utah State is ranked No. 37 in the NET ranking after their win over San Jose State. New Mexico is No. 158 in the NET rankings. The Aggies are the second highest ranked team in the Mountain West according to the NET rankings, while New Mexico is seventh.
ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has Utah State as a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Here is where the other metrics have the Aggies this week:
- RPI – 63
- SOR – 40
- BPI – 35
- KenPom – 37
- Sagarin – 32
For New Mexico, here is where the other metrics have them ranked:
- RPI – 135
- SOR – 142
- BPI – 153
- KenPom – 144
- Sagarin – 158
The Aggies and Lobos will tip-off at 8 p.m. on Saturday with the game being televised on CBS Sports Network.
