Aggies and Miners Clash in El Paso Showdown
As the New Mexico State Aggies prepare to face off against the UTEP Miners at the Don Haskins Center, fans can anticipate a game where recent trends could play a significant role. The Aggies have had a mixed bag of performances in their past few outings, showing both resilience and areas for improvement.
In their last game against the Texas-Arlington Mavericks, the Aggies narrowly missed victory with a final score of 60-61. Despite this loss, there were positive takeaways; they showcased an impressive three-point shooting accuracy of 47 percent and capitalized on turnovers with 19 points off them. However, they struggled from the free-throw line with only 58 percent accuracy and committed a high number of personal fouls (19), which could have been decisive in such a close contest.
The previous match saw them fall to Troy Trojans at home with a scoreline of 66-81. The Aggies' field goal percentage stood at 39 percent – an area that needs tightening up. Their free throw performance was notably better at 79 percent but was overshadowed by their lower assist count (7) compared to Troy's (14), indicating potential issues in ball movement and offensive cohesion.
Another recent game that went into overtime against Austin Peay Governors ended narrowly in favor of the Governors with a scoreline of 55-57. The Aggies showed defensive prowess with 15 steals but were again let down by turnovers (16) and assists-to-turnover ratio (0.64). They maintained decent shooting from both two-point range (42 percent) and beyond the arc (40 percent).
The upcoming encounter will test whether New Mexico State can leverage its strengths – like three-point shooting – while addressing weaknesses such as ball handling under pressure and foul management.
Fans eager to support New Mexico State can catch all the action on January 6th at Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas. Tip-off is scheduled for local time zone Mountain Standard Time, aligning with Central Time for those watching from UTEP's location or elsewhere across different time zones.