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The New Mexico State Aggies basketball team will host the UMKC Kangaroos in Western Athletic Conference play on Saturday.
The game (6 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV anywhere, but you can watch it live on ESPN+:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can then watch UMKC vs New Mexico State live on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
UMKC vs New Mexico State Preview
The Aggies pounded the Chicago State Cougars 93-54 at home on Thursday for their fifth consecutive victory, improving to 11-6 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
New Mexico State built a 22-2 advantage across the contest’s first six minutes, leaning on a full-court press.
“I thought we came out of the gates well and certainly set the tone defensively,” NMSU head coach Chris Jans said, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. “We got a pretty big lead to start the game.”
Aggies guard Trevelin Queen led all participants with 17 points and 4 steals in just 20 minutes, adding 6 rebounds and a block.
Fellow guard Shunn Buchanan came off the bench to dish a game-high 9 assists without turning the ball over. He came up with 3 steals and didn’t attempt a shot from the field or the free-throw line.
“I just think whenever you get on defense in the game, you score score off of it and get your easy baskets, they help you just run off sometimes,” Buchanan said, per the Las Cruces Sun-News. “We think about getting stops every time down the court.”
The Kangaroos had a four-game winning streak snapped on Thursday, when they fell to the Texas Rio Grande Vipers 76-64 on the road to drop to 9-8 on the season and 2-1 in WAC play.
UMKC guard Jashire Hardnett led the team with 17 points, adding a trio of assists and a steal.
Fellow guard Rob Whitfield shot just 2-of-9 from the field (2-of-8 from 3-point range) for 6 points, but he came up with a game-high 4 steals to go with 3 assists and no turnovers.
Though he struggled offensively against the Vipers, Whitfield appears to have recovered from an early-season shooting slump. A year ago, he ranked second on the team in scoring, averaging 11 points per game while hitting a scorching 41.8% from deep on 6.3 long-range attempts per game.
Across the team’s first 12 games of the 2019-20 campaign, he scored just 8.1 points per game, hitting from outside at a 34.4% clip — numbers largely buoyed by a 29-point performance in a Nov. 23 victory over the East Carolina Pirates, when he 7-of-12 from 3-point range.
Since that rough start, however, the sophomore’s connected on 41.2% of his 3-pointers across five contests, taking 6.8 shots from distance while averaging 11.2 points.
Whitfield’s hot-shooting stretch started with a Dec. 12 victory over the Toledo Rockets, in which he went 4-of-9 from downtown en route to 16 points.
“I feel like I needed a game like this,” Whitfield said after besting Toledo, according to the University News. “I’ve been practicing better lately; coaches are getting on me to play harder and I went out there and did it on both-ends. Offensively, [coaches] told me to keep shooting the ball and defensively make sure I guard my man.”