HOOTEN: The state of the New Mexico has shown resilience in Wins vs Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State

Jason Hooten thinks that the state of the New Mexico is doing well when his back is against the wall. The AGGIES proved the point of their coach last week.

NM State (15-12, 8-6 Conference USA) went 2-0 on the road last week with victories against Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State, extending his three-game victories sequence and the front advanced in fourth row of the CUSA ranking. This helped the Aggies win another hot sequence with four regular season games, and one they needed after losing six of their seven games before that.

Nm State could become hot at the right time.

“Our guys were locked up and concentrated,” said Hooten. “I think the only thing we have done all year round is when our back was against the wall, our guys showed a lot of resilience. We were on a mission, you could say, from the start.”

The Aggies had their most impressive defensive performances against Gamecocks and Owls, holding respectively the two most scores of CUSA at 52 and 49 points. Nm State held the two teams below 33% shooting and 21% 3 -point shooting and Jaron Pierre de JSU and Simeon Cottle de KSU, two of the five best scorers in CUSA, fired under 40% of shooting despite their two -digit points performance.

Offensive production is still not where Hooten wants it to be, however, a recurring theme for the Aggies in recent weeks. NM State pulled 40.7% against Gamecocks, but only 37.5% against OWLS – 3 -point fire was a particular struggle, because the Aggies went for a 5 for 32 combined Beyond Arc last week.

Hooten wants to work there further the last two home games of the Aggies of the season against the Middle Tennessee (18-9, 9-5) Thursday and Western Kentucky (15-12, 6-8) on Saturday. Its goal for NM State is to shoot 40% in each match. If the Aggies can get there, they could be a force.

“I would like us to continue to improve offensively and try to raise this attack on the field,” said Hooten. “I think that once we have reached 40%, we have quite a good chance of winning, so we were able to continue to strive to do so.”

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Filipovity returns with style

Last week presented the return of the attacker for graduate students, Peter Filipovity, one of the best NM State players, of a disease. It did not start either, but was a force out of the bench.

Filipovity obtained a double-double against JSU with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He also scored 18 points with nine rebounds against Kennesaw, which earned him the honors of the player of the week Cusa. Hooten says that Filipovity is still a little slow and has a cough, but played 57 minutes in total last week.

“In all honesty, I didn’t think he would have 20 points and 12 rebounds,” said Hooten. “I don’t think he felt good. I think he improves, however. I thought that on Saturday, he showed fewer signs of being sick than the previous week. But also playing as well as He played, who also make you feel better. “

Filipovity does not yet believe that he is healthy, but he hopes to be this week.

“I make good progress,” said Filipovity. “It was a slow progress, but since I started to practice, it improved. I’m still not 100%. I’m still coughing and I have a little sore throat, but it was good . “

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Aggie Basketball says goodbye in the last home games in Nixon

Thursday and Saturday will be the last time that Jack Nixon will comment on the basketball games of NM State in Las Cruces, while the Aggies took the road next week before playing the Cusa tournament in Huntsville, Ala.

Nixon announced his radio retirement as the “Voix des Aggies” in August and has spent the months since during his last season. He has already received several fans’ ovations, especially in the last 2024 AGGIE football match against UTEP and in the NM State Basketball match against the new Mexico on December 7.

Hooten said it would be difficult for Nm State to be without Nixon and expressed his gratitude for his contributions to Aggie Sports.

“It is obviously a staple food in this program, in this university, in this community,” said Hooten. “Whenever you lose someone from this caliber, and not just his work, but on his personality, it’s difficult … We have had great conversations on everything, basketball, past, present , from the future to the future to now.

Nixon is in his 45th season by commenting on football and male basketball matches for NM State. He began in 1976, but had a three-year gap from 1982 to 1985. Nixon was inducted into the New Mexico sports fame in 2019 and at the New Mexico Broadcaster’s Association renowned temple in 2022, Among many other honors.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Basketball resilient nmsu in Jax State, Kennesaw State wins