Lookin for a leg up in Las Cruces

Maybe a chance if this guy comes back Saturday

‘Dogs try to set the tone vs. Aggies:

The Fresno State Bulldogs traveled from Ruston to Las Cruces for a Saturday night WAC matchup with defending champion New Mexico State. Tip is set for 6pm Pacific and the game will be televised on the CW59, with Ralph Wood on play by play and the “Coach” Bob Dunawald with analysis. This is an important game for both teams as the Aggies (7-9) must defend their home court and the Dogs (8-6) are looking to steal one away from Fresno.

New Mexico State prior:

The Aggies come into Saturdays game with a Wednesday night victory over the University of Idaho in Moscow. NMSU never trailed in the second half but the Vandals were able to knot the game at 61 all with 9 minutes to go. From there the Aggies grinded it out and finished off Idaho 78-68.

Justin Hawkins led the way for the Aggies with 18 points and 8 rebounds, and Jonathan Gibson added 16 points and 5 rebounds. During the final minute NMSU shot 7 of 8 from the free throw line. The Aggies finished the contest with 5 players in double figures.

On the season, senior Justin Hawkins leads the way for NMSU at 18.5 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per contest. Next up in the scoring department are sophomore guard Jonathan Gibson at 12.7 points per game and senior guard Fred Peete at 12.1 per.

Key Aggie Stats:

-WAC leading 39.2 rebounds per game
-lead WAC at +6.1 rebounding margin
-WAC leading 13.9 offensive rebounds per game
-3.9 blocks per game
-shoot 48.3% from the field
-34.6% 3 point shooting
-62.3% free throw shooting
-280 turnovers to 212 assists on the season
-average 76.6 points per game (opponents 72.2)

The Bulldogs entering:

Fresno State comes into Saturdays contest versus the Aggies following a WAC opening road victory at Louisiana Tech 61-44. Senior guard Eddie Miller led the way with 17 points on 5-10 3 point shooting. Senior point guard Kevin Bell added 13 points and 6 assists. The Dogs shot 43.6% from the field while holding Tech to an abysmal 26.3% shooting. One issue was unforced errors, the Bulldogs finished with 15 turnovers which cant be matched on Saturday if they expect to leave Las Cruces with a win.

Bulldog stats and facts:

-The Bulldogs have won 5 straight WAC road games dating back to last season.
-Over the last four games have held opponents to a 49 point per game average
-WAC leading 121 made three point field goals
-shooting 35.8% from three
-Eddie Miller leads WAC with 3.43 made 3 point field goals per contest.
-Dogs rebounding at -4 per game margin.
-shoot 69.4% from the free throw line

MBs take:

This is a serious challenge for the Bulldogs and I don’t see them walking out with a victory from the Pan-Am Center Saturday. The offensive rebounding of the Aggies will be extremely difficult to negate, the Dogs may give up too much on the interior to overcome it even with 10 made threes.

The Dogs come back home after a 67-59 loss.