Sexual frustration running rampant at New Mexico State

What the hell is in the water at New Mexico State?

In what was arguably the most bizarre news story of the late week, a fan at New Mexico State's game against Utah State on Thursday night got ejected for making "sexual innuendo" gestures at a referee.

No, this isn't the entire story.

After the fan, Las Cruces area substitute teacher Jason Kilgore, was ejected, he then snuck back into the arena before being arrested.This case is both vastly hilarious and disturbingly sad at the same time.

But instead of going after the old "this guy is responsible for teaching the future of America?!?" angle, I'll actually try to connect this with college basketball.

Err, well, college basketball-related material, that is.

See, sexual gestures seem to be all the rage at New Mexico State right now. A month ago, sophomore Christian Kabongo was suspended for two games because he made several lewd gestures to fans during the Aggies 73-69 loss at UTEP on December 11th.

Fans complained to the UTEP athletic department that Kabongo "grabbed his crotch" in the direction of the crowd after several made baskets.

Kabongo eventually issued an apology and was reinstated on December 20th. But just a few weeks after being reinstated, the athletic wing left the program and asked for his scholarship release.

Do we need to clarify that "Keeping your hands to yourself" also includes not gesturing anything inappropriate to somebody else? I mean, think about the two people in question here: One is an educator and the other a scholarship student-athlete. Clearly, the educational structure in New Mexico needs some changes.

Or maybe people just need to grow up.



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POSTERIZED: You can't Sy me

This post is sponsored by the Fairfield Inn Bloomington.

New Mexico State thumped Utah State last night 80-60. Five NWSU players scored in double-digits. Junior forward Bandja Sy was not one of the Aggies to score in double-digits. in fact, he had a pretty sub-par night. He shot just 255 from the field and had four personal fouls.

But he did throw down one helluva #POSTERIZED dunk, so we'll cut him some slack:



If Sy can learn to just dunk all the time instead of taking jump shots, his FG% is bound to go up.

(H/T @TheUpsetBlog )

But was it as good as these?

Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26



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Two WAC stars go down with foot injuries

The two favorites in the WAC both are dealing with serious injuries to potential all-conference performers.

Utah State's Nate Bendall, a 6'10" post player that is the Aggie's second leading returning scorer and rebounder, has been dealing with a pre-stress fracture in his foot that has kept him out of workouts the past week. Bendall broke the same foot last summer, which means the training staff at Utah State will likely be very careful in dealing with this injury. The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that he may be out until after the Aggie's season opener against Weber State.

With Bendell out, it appears as if Stew Morrill will slide Tai Wesley, USU's burly power forward, over to the center spot, pushing Brady Jardine up to the first team with Matt Formisano and Morgan Grim playing more predominant roles off the bench.

New Mexico State may be dealing with a more serious foot injury.

Wendell McKines, a 6'6" senior forward that nearly averaged a double-double last season with also handing out 3.1 apg and knocking down 37.2% of his three, broke his foot in practice on Saturday. He will be out indefinitely. The good news for Marvin Menzies' Aggies is that their strength is in the front court. Starters Troy Gillenwater and Hamidu Rahman while a plethora of younger guys will fight for the minutes McKines' injury makes available.

For what its worth, we pegged McKines as a preseason first team all-WAC performer while Bendall made our second team.

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Conference Tournament Preview: Six teams that can steal a bid

Everyone loves the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Four straight days jam-packed with 12 hours of do-or-die college hoops is more than most people can handle.

But for junkies like us, the next 13 days are just as good, for it is when the true Madness takes place. Over the course of these two weeks, we whittle some 347 teams down to 30 conference champions (the Ivy doesn't have a tournament). Auto-bids will be won. Bubbles will be burst. Buzzers will be beaten. And most importantly, a 65 team bracket will be made.

In any tournament setting, one of the things that people enjoy watching the most is an upset. Some of the most memorable NCAA tournament moments are a direct result of David beating a Goliath. It is what makes the NCAA tournament so special and why so many people tune in.

Upsets in the conference tournaments are just as much fun to root for, unless you're a bubble team. If you are one of the schools on the cut line of the at-large pool, an upset in a conference tournament could be the difference between an NCAA trip and a bubble bursting. Ask St. Mary's, who lost out on a bid when Mississippi State made a run to the SEC tournament title last year.

Here are six teams that could steal a bid this season:


Loyola Marymount Lions: 16-14, 7-7 WCC

All season long, the talk in the WCC has been about 1) Gonzaga, 2) St. Mary's, and 3) Portland, especially in the early season. These days, the only time you expect to people bring up Loyola Marymount basketball is when they are talking about the late Hank Gathers. And while the Lions did post a marked improvement from last season, when they finished the year with just three wins, but a 7-7 team in the WCC shouldn't strike fear into the hearts of anyone.


That said, this is a team that has dealt with injuries all season long. Edgar Garibay has been out since early in the season with an ACL tear. Starters Ashley Hamilton and Jared Dubois have missed significant time, as have reserves Larry Davis and Given Kalipinde. Hell, even leading scorer Drew Viney missed back-to-back games earlier in the season. The good news is that when they are healthy, the Lions can play with anyone. They beat USC on the road, Notre Dame in South Bend, and most recently knocked off WCC champion Gonzaga in mid-February. The other good news? LMU is healthy now. They'll have their work cut out for them, as the five seed needs to win four straight games in the WCC.


St. Louis Billikens: 19-10, 10-5 A-10

There are six teams still on the bubble in the A-10, but despite being in fourth place in the league standings, the Billikens are not one of those teams. But if there is anything that St. Louis has taught us this season, its that they can play with any of the other teams in the conference. They've beaten physical teams like Dayton and Duquesne. They've beaten teams that want to spread the floor a bit more like URI and Xavier. Before losing two of three to Temple and Xavier (both were dogfights, no shame in either of those losses), the Billikens had won six in a row. They have a talented lead guard, a couple capable bodies inside, and a coach that knows what it take to advance in a tournament.


Missouri Valley

Thanks to the poor play of a number of bubble teams, Northern Iowa is all but a lock to make the tournament despite struggling down the stretch. But this is Arch Madness, where anything can happen, which means that the Panthers are by no means a lock to win the MVC tournament. There are three teams I can see with the potential to make a run through St. Louis. Wichita State all season long has been the second best team in the conference. They've struggled a bit of late, but this is a team with a legitimate scoring threat in the post and a couple quality back court players. Illinois State is dangerous because they have the best player in the league. Osiris Eldridge is good enough to take over a game (does anyone remember when he scored 21 after halftime in last year's final?), and Dinma Odiakosa and Lloyd Philips are both talented role players. The Redbirds are also playing their best basketball of the season, having won six in a row before dropping their season finale to Northern Iowa. Also keep an eye on Missouri State. They are the best offensive team in the conference, beat Tulsa and Nevada at home, won at St. Louis, and of their 11 losses, only one came by more than 11 points (18 points at Bradley).


VCU Rams: 20-8, 11-7

Like the MVC, the CAA is a quality conference with just one team that is deserving of an at-large bid (Old Dominion). So who can make a run to the CAA title? Northeastern finished second in the league, is a good defensive team, and has as good of a back court as you will find at this level. William & Mary has already knocked off Maryland, Richmond, and Wake Forest. They run a modified Princeton offense, spreading the floor and attacking gaps, which creates a lot of three point opportunities. If they get hot, they can make a run. But I like VCU.


The Rams may have lost Eric Maynor, but it doesn't mean this is a team devoid of talent. Larry Sanders is as long and athletic as anyone you will find in the country, and has been slowly developing into a star inside. Joey Rodriguez is a talented point guard, and Shaka Smart has a wealth of quality role players. The Rams will have their work cut out for them, as they have to win two games before getting a shot at ODU in the semi's. But keep this in mind while watching the CAA Tournament. VCU is 15-1 at home this season, with wins over Oklahoma, Nevada, URI, Richmond, and Old Dominion. VCU is in Richmond. The CAA Tournament is played in Richmond. Advantage Rams?


Arizona State Sun Devils: 20-9, 10-6 Pac-10

It feels weird saying this about a team that plays in a power conference, but lets remember that this year's Pac-10 is not a normal power conference. And let's face it - Cal is going to the tournament so long as they take care of business against Stanford and whoever they get in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament. But Arizona State can play. They are running less of a Princeton offense and more of a motion style system that allows Herb Sendek to better utilize his talented perimeter players. They have a big bodied center and an underrated point guard. They have won six of their last eight overall and five of the last seven games they have played on the road. While the balance in the Pac-10 makes it obvious that any team can get hot and make a run through the tournament, I think Arizona State has the best chance.


New Mexico State Aggies: 19-9, 11-3 19-10, 11-4 WAC

New Mexico State likes to score. They push the ball, they spread the floor, and they allow their two talented scoring guards, Jahmar Young and Jonathon Gibson that average a combined 39.3 ppg, the freedom to score and create. The problem for the Aggies is that they don't have much depth and they don't play much defense, which makes them susceptible. New Mexico State has shown flashes, however. They have beaten both UTEP and Utah State this season, and they have won seven of their last eight games nine games (while writing this post, the Aggies lost to Nevada).
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