Before we talk about last night's games we want to let you know that you'll want to stop back by the site around 10:30 as we have a special treat for Aggie fans. We had the opportunity to interview new Aggie head football coach DeWayne Walker last night and we will be posting that interview this morning. We spoke with Coach Walker about what attracted him to the NMSU job, his timeline, what he hopes to bring to the defensive side of the ball as well as the offensive side of the ball (and he told us that Timm Rosenbach will be the new offensive coordinator) and a few other topics as well.
Walker has an impressive resume and has studied under some of the NFL and college game's great coaches. You can view his complete profile at the UCLA athletic website.
Today's press conference to officially announce Coach Walker is at 10:00 a.m. and will be streamed live at NMStateSports.com.
About last night's game... that was a tough loss. We'd first like to say kudos to Aggie fans for "bringing it" last night. The official attendance was 10,285 and it really made created a rivalry type atmosphere and hopefully we can get crowds like that next week when the Aggies host Nevada and Utah State.
As far as the game, the coaches can't say anything about it but the officiating in last night's game was absolutely atrocious. This picture and this picture are proof. (Be sure to check out all of our photos from last night's game). Jahmar Young got absolutely hacked on the way to basket but no foul was called. The Aggies didn't help themselves either as they shot 8-27 (29.6%) in the first half but again only found themselves trailing by two at the break. UNM would build an eight point lead early midway through the second half but the Aggies were able to chip away and finally take the lead with about five minutes remaining in the game. Unfortunately the Aggies could not pad their lead as on six of the final eight trips the Aggies fouled UNM and put them on the free throw line. Coach Menzies talked about that in his postgame comments and he sounded about as frustrated as we've ever heard. He wanted his guys to play solid defense and instead they were putting seasoned veteran players on the line. It wasn't completely the players' fault however as again there were some absolutely atrocious calls down the stretch, including a charge on Troy Gillenwater with about three minutes left that would have given the Aggies a three point lead as he made what looked to be a nice move to the basket. Instead of two points and a foul shot, the officials called a charge, no basket. Gillenwater fouled out on that play.
The Aggies had two final chances to win the game as they had the ball down by one with under 40 seconds left and then had the ball again down by two with 14 second left.
The Aggies don't have much time to dwell on this loss as they open up conference play on the road on Saturday at the Save Mart Center in Fresno. Fresno State is a good team with an impressive big man in freshman Paul George. Then it's on to San Jose on Monday night as they'll take on an underrated San Jose State team that has received a huge boost with the eligibility of transfer Adrian Oliver from the University of Washington. Oliver is averaging 20 points per game in his four appearances this season. And there's no rest from there either as the Aggies will return home a week from tomorrow to face league rival Nevada and then will face league leading Utah State (10-1) a week from Saturday.
The Aggie women suffered another loss, this time falling 83-63 to Illinois-Chicago. The Aggies shot a paltry 29.4% from the floor in the game and were just 8-37 in the first half (37 shots in a half is a LOT of shots). After shooting just four free throws on Sunday night the Aggies attempted 30 free throws in last night's contest hitting 19. Madison Spence was held without a field goal scoring all six of her points from the free throw line. Danisha Corbett continued her struggles from the field as she was 2-13 and finished with seven points. Corbett was injured late in the first half of the game against Northern Colorado and that could be affecting her play in the last two games, we hope to find out this week.
The Aggies are back on the road as they'll face Kansas on Sunday followed by two more road games as they open up conference play at Utah State and at Nevada.
On to today's links...
Aggie Men's Basketball
Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News recaps last night's loss to UNM.
Jason Groves also blogs some thoughts on the Aggies' performance in close games.
Richard Stevens on the UNM athletic website recaps last night's rivalry loss.
The Sports Network recaps last night's loss to UNM.
KDBC CBS 4 in El Paso has a brief video report on the hiring of DeWayne Walker as well as highlights from last night's rivalry game.
Our friends at Rush The Court take their daily look around the college hoops landscape.
Aggie Women's Basketball
The NMSU athletic website recaps last night's loss to Illinois-Chicago.
The Illinois-Chicago athletic website recaps last night's loss to the Flames.
Aggie Football
The Associated Press reports on the hiring of DeWayne Walker as the new head football coach.
Felix Chavez of the Las Cruces Sun-News talks about DeWayne Walker's hiring.
Felix Chavez of the Las Cruces Sun-News confirms that Timm Rosenbach will be the Aggies' new offensive coordinator.
Adam Rose of the LA Times blogs about DeWayne Walker landing the NMSU head coaching job.
Brian Grummell of AOL Fanhouse comments on the hiring of DeWayne Walker.
Dr. Saturday, Matt Hinton, talks about the hiring of DeWayne Walker.
Jill Painter of the Pasadena Star News also reports on the hiring on DeWayne Walker.
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