Saturday, January 29, 2005

LAS CRUCES, N.M. Both Western Kentucky and New Mexico State really need a win tonight but for slightly different reasons.

The Hilltoppers (12-5, 2-3 Sun Belt Conference) havent won on the road since league play started and desperately need a win away from Bowling Green to prove to themselves that they can win outside of their home arena.

We havent yet grasped how we have to do it on the road, WKU coach Darrin Horn said. As a team, collectively, we just dont understand that yet, and we have to.

New Mexico State just needs a win period.

The Aggies (5-14, 1-5) have won only twice since Nov. 27 and will take any victory they can get their hands on.

This is a big game for us because we really need to win some, NMSU coach Tony Stubblefield said. Its going to be tough though, because were playing one of the toughest teams in the league.

New Mexico State is one of the worst teams in the league. Three of their five conference losses have been by at least nine points, including a 15-point defeat to Middle Tennessee on Thursday.

The only Sun Belt victory the Aggies have managed came against Florida International the lone winless team in the conference.

Part of New Mexico States lack of success can be attributed to the health problems of former coach Lou Henson.

Henson the venerable Aggies coach who survived a bout with cancer two years ago never coached a game this season after multiple health issues unrelated to the cancer and officially retired last week.

Stubblefield led the team while Henson was out and was named interim coach upon his retirement.

These kids have worked hard and been very resilient, Stubblefield said. Theyve given us 110 percent the whole time and thats all we can really ask out of them.

Western beat New Mexico State 73-58 last season in a nationally televised game in E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Aggies return just one player of note from that squad guard Duane John.

John and junior Mike Mitchell lead NMSU with just over 13 points per game apiece.

Unlike Louisiana-Lafayette, which beat the Toppers 91-76 on Thursday, New Mexico State is very perimeter-oriented, which means WKU will place more of an emphasis on perimeter defense and not as much on transition defense.

They dont have the size or athleticism that Lafayette had, Horn said. In their own way, they are a different kind of matchup that provides difficulties because they are so guard-oriented and take a lot of 3-pointers. We have to do a good job of finding shooters and taking away the 3-point shot.

New Mexico State is putting an emphasis on turnovers and rebounding.

We really need to limit the number of turnovers we have taking care of the ball is important, Stubblefield said. We also need to rebound the ball well. Western does a good job getting offensive rebounds and we need to limit that.

The job will be made tougher because the Aggies leading rebounder junior Jeff Jones will not play tonight because he was suspended for a flagrant foul in Thursdays loss to Middle Tennessee.

That doesnt really help us that much, Horn said. We just have to play with a greater deal of emotion and defensive focus for the entire game, regardless of who they put on the floor.

After tonights game, Western will play at Middle Tennessee on Thursday before returning home to take on Arkansas State on Feb. 5.  Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700