New Mexico State will face the Arizona Wildcats, the new No. 1 ranked team in country in an NCAA basketball game tonight. The game will be live streamed at 9:00 PM ET on the PAC12 Network.
For the first time in over a decade, Arizona has became the No. 1-ranked team in the country in both the Coaches Poll and Associated Press.
"I think it's something we feel like we've earned," coach Sean Miller told the Arizona website. "We know that being ranked No. 1 doesn't mean that we won the championship or the season's now over, but I'm not going to play the negative card at all. ... To be ranked No. 1 is maybe the greatest compliment you can have."
The Wildcats (9-0) have gained their recent national respect with dominant defense and rebounding. Their 14.1 rebounding margin is among the best in the country while they've held opponents to 59.1 points per game and 36.8 percent shooting. Arizona overcame its own shooting woes in Saturday's 63-58 win over UNLV. The Wildcats went 3 of 16 from 3-point range and shot 41.8 percent overall but held the Runnin' Rebels to 7 of 25 in the second half to do away with a three-point halftime deficit.
Point guard T.J. McConnell led Arizona with season highs of 13 points and seven rebounds to go with six assists. He hasn't turned the ball over more than three times in 13 straight games dating back to February.
"He's in many ways the heart and soul of what we do," Miller said, "and I think you saw that in many ways in the second half."
Leading scorer Nick Johnson, averaging 16.6 points, was held to 12 and had his worst shooting night of the season (4 of 15). However, he's reached double figures in every game.
Before a big test to that spot at the top this weekend, the Wildcats play Wednesday night at home against a New Mexico State team that hasn't beaten a ranked opponent since 2007.
New Mexico State (7-4) could struggle to overcome those strengths. The Aggies have been outrebounded by 23 during their three-game skid.
They're coming off Saturday's 80-68 defeat at then-No. 19 Gonzaga. They focused on the Bulldogs' outside shooting, holding them to a season-low four 3-pointers, but were outrebounded 45-30 despite the size of starting centers Sim Bhullar (7'5") and Tshilidzi Nephawa (6'10").
Daniel Mullings scored 17 points and leads the Aggies with 17.6 per game.
The Aggies have lost their last 13 games against ranked opponents and last beat a top-10 opponent in 1980.
The teams have met four times since 1999 with the Wildcats winning each contest.
