Who Will Get a Win First: Aggies or Mavericks?

On Saturday afternoon at the Pan Am Center, someone is going to get their first win of WAC play.

Considering that college basketball is unlike the NFL, where games don’t end in a tie. Someone has to win.

And while one of the two teams might not surprise anyone, it is safe to say the other winless team is quite a surprise.

What in the world has happened to the New Mexico State Aggies?

It’s the last season in the WAC for the Aggies, and it wasn’t supposed to go like this. Five straight losses. Three of those losses came at the Pan Am Center. And the Aggies have failed to score 70-plus points in their last four games.

Did the Mike Peake incident really set off a huge domino effect that has Aggie Nation reeling? This wasn’t supposed to be the way the Aggies wanted to leave the WAC. And losing is not acceptable in Las Cruces.

Now, the Aggies are facing a must-win situation on Saturday afternoon in Las Cruces.

A win puts the Aggies a game up in the battle for 12th place. Yes, you read that correctly. 12th place in the WAC standings. It has been a hard fall for the defending champions. But, perhaps that is to be expected with a first-year head coach, an entirely new roster, and a lot of mouths to feed.

The worst part for Aggie fans is there are glimpses of how good this team can be. In Thursday’s loss at Seattle, there were spurts. One of those spurts is why the Aggies lost three instead of double figures. But, the consistency is lacking.

And can it change ahead of Saturday’s content against winless UT Arlington?

The Mavs are coming off a blowout loss at GCU on Thursday night. And, similar to the Aggies, inconsistency seems to be the name of the game for the Mavericks. Greg Young’s squad held a 30-28 lead at halftime in Phoenix.

But then, in an instant, things changed. And not for the better. GCU outscored the Mavs 52-18 after halftime and the Mavs had no answer for the Lopes. Despite being close in its first four WAC games, and playing well for a half, UT Arlington is struggling.

Remember that win over San Francisco in late December? Yeah, that seems like a lifetime ago. Because two days later the Mavs lost at winless Cal and have now lost five straight games to open WAC play.

Something has to give on Saturday, right?

And while there is a game featuring two undefeated teams in WAC play and another with big time seeding implications, the game of the day may be in Las Cruces.

Somebody has to win.

Will New Mexico State be able to avoid its fourth straight loss at the Pan Am Center? How will UT Arlington respond to a second half throttling?

It should be interesting when the Mavs and Aggies look to get their first win of conference play.