Over in El Paso, a surge in local basketball fandom culminated as a packed Don Haskins Center witnessed an unexpected thrashing. On Saturday night, the New Mexico State men's basketball team, described by their head coach Jason Hooten as "really loose, confident," took to the court with something to prove, and prove they did, dismantling UTEP with a score of 85-57. "I think our guys came over here, you know I don’t want to use that adage ‘nothing to lose’, we obviously had something to lose: a game, but I just thought our guys were really loose, confident maybe from last week, and we played well," Hooten said, according to KTSM.
On the flip side, UTEP's performance was duly noted to have been lackluster, with UTEP coach Joe Golding highlighting the team's deficiencies in no uncertain terms. "They were quicker to the ball, they wanted the ball more, they were going after the ball," Golding said. "We weren't boxing out. We were playing the victim, trying to make excuses. We didn't match their toughness right from the start," he said, as per El Paso Times. All the more striking as this loss severed a six-game win streak for UTEP, leaving them with a record of 12-4 overall and 2-1 in CUSA.
Adding to the night's historic flair was the fact that it marked the first sellout for UTEP in two decades, a testament to the town's rekindled passion for its college basketball team. Fans had lined up, spirits high with the hope that this game against the Aggies would spur UTEP towards March Madness glory, something they have not tasted in many years. "That's where we belong, we've belonged, and we just haven't been there since, so yeah, we've gotta go back," a fan articulated an aspiration, as captured by KFOX-TV.
