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| (Photo by: Zack Ponce) |
The New Mexico State men’s basketball team is the No.13 seed in the South region of the NCAA Tournament, and will travel to Portland, Ore. to face the fourth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday.
This is the first trip to the NCAA Tournament for each player on the Indiana roster. The same cannot be said for NM State, as there are four players on the Aggie roster that played in the team’s 2010 tournament game against Michigan State.
Wendell McKines, Hernst Laroche and Hamidu Rahman started for the Aggies against the Spartans two years ago, while Tyrone Watson played four minutes off the bench. Because of that tournament experience, McKines said the team knows what to expect from being on a national stage.
“We know what to expect and how to go about our preparation as far as winning the game,” McKines said. “One of those things is not to be overwhelmed by winning the conference tournament, but to immediately put our focus on Indiana as oppose to the thrill of being in the tournament.”
NM State Head Coach Marvin Menzies said the team’s experience advantage played a large role in winning the Western Athletic Conference Tournament for the second time in three seasons. However, Menzies acknowledged it will take more than experience to knock off the Hoosiers on Thursday evening.
“Our focus for those guys is not to rely just on their experience, but keep striving to get better,” Menzies said of the Aggie upperclassmen. “Even the seniors have to try to perform at a higher level than they did the game before.”
The Aggie coaching staff has also matured since the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Menzies said there is always something new to learn as a head coach, but his confidence has improved throughout the years.
“I definitely have a high level of confidence in my own ability to manage the game and to get our guys ready to play,” Menzies said. “I’ve been doing this as a head coach for only five (years), but I’ve been coaching for 30 years in the business. It’s just a part of my fiber.”
Indiana head coach Tom Crean has 13 years of head coaching experience under his belt. Crean coached Marquette for nine seasons, and is in his fourth season at the helm of Indiana.
What the Hoosiers lack in experience, they make up for in efficient perimeter shooting and transition offense. Indiana led the Big Ten in points per game (77.3) and three-point field goal percentage (43.3%).
Indiana finished 25-8 overall and 11-7 in Big Ten play during the regular season. The Hoosiers lost to Wisconsin 79-71 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, but earned an at-large bid to play in the program’s first NCAA Tournament since the 2007-2008 season.
For the Aggies, a win over Indiana on Thursday would be a signature win for the program. A run in the tournament would put NM State basketball on the college basketball national map once again.
“To the outside world, some people think we’re the Lobos,” McKines said. “So just to make that stamp that New Mexico State is something to be wreckin’ with nationally, and to be a part of that, would be big. “
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