# 2018–19 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team

The 2018–19 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represented New Mexico State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by second-year head coach Chris Jans, played their home games at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico as members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the regular season 27–4 and 15–1 in WAC play to win the WAC regular season championship. In the WAC tournament, they defeated Chicago State, Texas–Rio Grande Valley, and Grand Canyon to become WAC Tournament champions. They received the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where they lost in the first round to Auburn. They also set a school record for wins in a season and won 30 games for the first time in team history.

## Previous season

The Aggies finished the 2017–18 season 28–6, 12–2 in WAC play to win the WAC regular season championship. In the WAC tournament, they defeated Chicago State, Seattle, and Grand Canyon to become WAC Tournament champions. They received the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Clemson.

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | North Dakota State WAC/Summit League Challenge | W 73–56 | 1–0 | 16 – Zamora | 7 – Henry | 2 – Tied | Pan American Center (4,358) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, WAC DN | | UTEP Battle of I-10 | W 96–69 | 2–0 | 14 – Henry | 6 – Tied | 3 – Harris | Pan American Center (6,125) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 14, 2018* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Saint Mary's | L 58–73 | 2–1 | 17 – Harris | 6 – Tied | 2 – Brown | Pan American Center (6,660) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 17, 2018* 4:00 pm, ATTSNSW | | at New Mexico Rio Grande Rivalry | W 98–94 | 3–1 | 31 – Harris | 9 – Thiam | 2 – Harris | The Pit (15,411) Albuquerque, NM |
| Nov 21, 2018* 6:00 pm, WAC DN | | Eastern New Mexico | W 92–65 | 4–1 | 14 – Brown | 8 – Thiam | 6 – Buchanan | Pan American Center (3,807) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, CUSA TV | | at UTEP Battle of I-10 | W 62–58 | 5–1 | 15 – Aurrecoechea | 6 – Aurrecoechea | 3 – Harris | Don Haskins Center (6,106) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 1, 2018* 7:00 pm, WAC DN | | Washington State | W 69–63 | 6–1 | 15 – Bobbitt | 7 – Tied | 7 – Buchanan | Pan American Center (4,880) Las Cruces, NM |
| Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | New Mexico Rio Grande Rivalry | W 100–65 | 7–1 | 27 – Zamora | 11 – Aurrecoechea | 6 – Tied | Pan American Center (6,777) Las Cruces, NM |
| Dec 8, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 2 Kansas Jayhawk Shootout | L 60–63 | 7–2 | 15 – Zamora | 6 – McCants | 6 – Aurrecoechea | Sprint Center (15,210) Kansas City, MO |
| Dec 17, 2018* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Northern Colorado Las Vegas Classic campus game | W 74–62 | 8–2 | 20 – Aurrecoechea | 10 – Aurrecoechea | 3 – Harris | Pan American Center (4,304) Las Cruces, NM |
| Dec 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, WAC DN | | Cal State Northridge Las Vegas Classic campus game | W 92–57 | 9–2 | 21 – Jones | 9 – Chuha | 4 – Harris | Pan American Center (5,334) Las Cruces, NM |
| Dec 22, 2018* 5:30 pm, FS2 | | vs. Drake Las Vegas Classic semifinals | L 63–66 | 9–3 | 17 – Brown | 10 – Aurrecoechea | 2 – Tied | Orleans Arena (2,232) Paradise, NV |
| Dec 23, 2018* 8:35 pm, FS2 | | vs. Washington State Las Vegas Classic 3rd place game | W 75–72 | 10–3 | 28 – Zamora | 12 – Chuha | 7 – Zamora | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| Dec 30, 2018* 2:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Colorado State | W 88–68 | 11–3 | 22 – Bobbitt | 10 – Aurrecoechea | 4 – Tied | Moby Arena (3,218) Fort Collins, CO |
| Jan 3, 2019 8:00 pm, WAC DN | | at California Baptist | L 76–82 | 11–4 (0–1) | 22 – Brown | 16 – McCants | 3 – Tied | CBU Events Center (3,304) Riverside, CA |
| Jan 10, 2019 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Grand Canyon | W 77–75 | 12–4 (1–1) | 20 – Aurrecoechea | 11 – Aurrecoechea | 7 – Harris | Pan American Center (5,482) Las Cruces, NM |
| Jan 12, 2019 4:00 pm, WAC DN | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 73–62 | 13–4 (2–1) | 19 – Brown | 11 – Chuha | 8 – Buchanan | Pan American Center (4,702) Las Cruces, NM |
| Jan 17, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Seattle | W 87–60 | 14–4 (3–1) | 13 – Chuha | 10 – Chuha | 4 – Harris | Redhawk Center (999) Seattle, WA |
| Jan 19, 2019 7:00 pm, WAC DN | | at Utah Valley | W 83–78 | 15–4 (4–1) | 20 – Chuha | 14 – Chuha | 5 – Harris | UCCU Center (4,521) Orem, UT |
| Jan 26, 2019 6:00 pm, WAC DN | | at Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 63–61 | 16–4 (5–1) | 12 – Tied | 6 – Chuha | 5 – Queen | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,104) Edinburg, TX |
| Jan 31, 2019 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | UMKC | W 70–54 | 17–4 (6–1) | 15 – Brown | 6 – Chuha | 6 – Harris | Pan American Center (5,029) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 2, 2019 4:00 pm, AggieVision | | Chicago State | W 83–39 | 18–4 (7–1) | 19 – Brown | 10 – Thiam | 3 – Tied | Pan American Center (5,375) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 7, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Bakersfield | W 71–70 $^{OT}$ | 19–4 (8–1) | 13 – Tied | 11 – Chuha | 4 – Chuha | Icardo Center (2,789) Bakersfield, CA |
| Feb 9, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Grand Canyon | W 67–64 | 20–4 (9–1) | 15 – Chuha | 7 – Tied | 3 – Tied | GCU Arena (7,495) Phoenix, AZ |
| Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Utah Valley | W 84–77 | 21–4 (10–1) | 21 – Chuha | 10 – Chuha | 4 – Buchanan | Pan American Center (4,628) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 16, 2019 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Seattle | W 59–53 | 22–4 (11–1) | 13 – Queen | 5 – Tied | 3 – Harris | Pan American Center (11,889) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, WAC DN | | Texas A&M International | W 80–42 | 23–4 | 14 – Tied | 11 – Thiam | 5 – Buchanan | Pan American Center (4,399) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 23, 2019 4:00 pm, WAC DN | | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 88–79 | 24–4 (12–1) | 20 – Aurrecoechea | 7 – Aurrecoechea | 4 – Tied | Pan American Center (5,446) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 28, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UMKC | W 75–55 | 25–4 (13–1) | 12 – Tied | 7 – McCants | 3 – Tied | Swinney Recreation Center (1,194) Kansas City, MO |
| Mar 2, 2019 1:00 pm, WAC DN | | at Chicago State | W 92–58 | 26–4 (14–1) | 17 – Aurrecoechea | 7 – Tied | 4 – Bobbitt | Jones Convocation Center (555) Chicago, IL |
| Mar 9, 2019 7:00 pm, WAC DN | | California Baptist | W 75–63 | 27–4 (15–1) | 18 – Queen | 10 – Aurrecoechea | 5 – Buchanan | Pan American Center (11,212) Las Cruces, NM |
| WAC tournament |||||||||
| Mar 14, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (8) Chicago State Quarterfinals | W 86–49 | 28–4 | 14 – Chuha | 8 – McCants | 4 – Buchanan | Orleans Arena (2,374) Paradise, NV |
| Mar 15, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (4) Texas–Rio Grande Valley Semifinals | W 79–72 | 29–4 | 19 – Brown | 7 – Chuha | 3 – Tied | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| Mar 16, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (3) Grand Canyon Championship | W 89–57 | 30–4 | 27 – Queen | 7 – Tied | 9 – Harris | Orleans Arena (3,598) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar 21, 2019* 11:30 am, TNT | (12 MW) | vs. (5 MW) No. 14 Auburn First Round | L 77–78 | 30–5 | 16 – McCants | 9 – Aurrecoechea | 5 – Brown | Vivint Smart Home Arena (16,576) Salt Lake City, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Mountain Time Source. |||||||||