The Aggie men's basketball team picked up a victory last night over Alcorn State 97-72. More importantly the Aggies saw the return of Wendell McKines who immediately made his presence felt. Wendell scored eight points, grabbed eight rebounds, had six assists, two steals and a block. Jahmar Young and Jonathan Gibson both had big scoring games for the second straight game to lead the Aggie offense. Gibson scored 23, Young scored 22 in the Aggies' 25 point victory.

What does the return of Wendell McKines mean for the Aggies? First the obvious. McKines was the only player in the league to average a double-double last season, made more impressive by the fact that there are thre players in the league averaging double-doubles this season and five more within two rebounds of averaging a double-double. We don't think it'll take him long to start averaging that this season either. Second, it gives the Aggies some added depth. McKines is capable of playing 30-plus minutes a game (he averaged 30.6 minutes per game last year) and he also has the "advantage" (if you want to look at the positive side of this situation) of being fresh for conference play. But McKines also brings a new level of energy and hustle that the Aggies sorely need. His motor goes at 110 percent all the time and that's something that hopefully will be contagious for the rest of his teammates because let's be completely honest, even Coach Menzies has admitted that the Aggies have looked flat a few times this season. His addition to the roster also takes some of the pressure off the Aggie guards to produce all the scoring. Rahman's offensive prowess has been a pleasant surprise and adding Wendell's already proven inside/mid-range game will only help Hamidu and it also now can keep teams from doubling up on Hamidu in the post.

Finally, does McKines' return mean the Aggies are going to win the WAC title this season? We won't know until March. However, his addition firmly puts the Aggies back into the conversation for the league title this year. That's not to say that the Aggies weren't contenders before his return but their lack of a second rebounder to complement Hamidu Rahman has been an issue this season and nearly every preseason prognostication (including ours) hinged on the return of Wendell and Troy Gillenwater (whose status remains in limbo). Rahman has been spelled by an undersized Kelly Merker (whose motor also goes at 110 percent all the time), and a pair of inexperienced freshmen in Bandja Sy and more recently B.J. West (who we think will contribute significant minutes later on in the season). The Aggies still have some work to do on the defensive end, allowing Alcorn State to shoot 40 percent for the game and score 72 points is still a bit disappointing.

We'll see how things play out the rest of the season but it goes without saying (even though we just spent the last few paragraphs saying it) that McKines' return is a BIG deal for the Aggies.

The Aggie women's basketball team is back in action tonight as they also take on Alcorn State (the women's team not the men's team of course). Coach Spence and the Aggies are looking to rebound from their loss at New Mexico. It will be interesting to see how the Aggies come out tonight after having played back-to-back high energy, high emotion rivalry games. Will the Aggies come out flat? They did that against North Dakota, something that Coach Spence has reminded his team about already this week.

It would be nice to see the Aggies score a big victory tonight and have a strong defensive performance. Hopefully the Aggies can build off their second half performance against the Lobos where they held them to just 20 percent shooting (and hopefully the officiating will be a little more, ahem, equitable towards the Aggies tonight). The Aggies are indeed a good team and good teams take care of business against inferior opponents, particularly at home.

Coach Spence stated in this week's interview that he just wants his team to continue their development on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. The Aggies certainly do have the potential to be an exceptional defensive team (the second half against UNM and the first half against UTEP are proof), however, consistency is the key. Both UTEP in the second half and UNM in the first half of their games against the Aggies showed that they still have some work to do.

Tonight's game tips off at 7:00 p.m. and fans can catch the game on the radio on KSNM AM 570. Streaming video and streaming audio will also be available via Aggie Access (subscription required).

Finally, congratulations to Aggie second baseman Mike Sodders and Aggie setter Jennah DeVries. Sodders earned his second preseason All-American honor as he was named to the Louisville Slugger Second Team All-American squad by Collegiate Baseball. He was also named to the NCBWA First Team last week. Jennah DeVries became the sixth Aggie to earn All-American honors for the volleyball program as she was named to the Honorable Mention All-American Team.

The Aggie baseball team also received votes in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Top 40 poll which ranked them 59th.

On to today's links...

Aggie Men's Basketball
Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News recaps the Aggies' win over Alcorn State.

Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News opens up his blog for fans' thoughts on the return of Wendell McKines.

Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal shares his WAC notebook.

Scott Ficklin of True Blue A ranks the WAC teams.

Aggie Football
Teddy Feinberg of the Las Cruces Sun-News blogs a few recruiting notes.

Wes Nakama of the Honolulu Advertiser talks about Aggie verbal commit Andrew Manley.

Warrior Quotes has a few quotes from Andrew Manley.

Aggie Women's Basketball
The NM State athletic website previews tonight's game.

Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News writes that head coach Darin Spence is pleased with the progress his team has made.

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