New Mexico (27-7, 17-3) takes on Michigan State (28-6, 17-3) in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sunday, March 23rd, 8:40 pm (TV=TNT)

New Mexico is a good team that beat two teams MSU lost to: UCLA (72-64) and USC (83-73).

New Mexico was blown out by St John's (85-71), lost to Boise State twice (72-69 and 86-78), and lost to SDSU (73-65).

Evan Miya

Michigan State: No .12 (10.8+14.6)=25.3

New Mexico: No .33 (7.3+12.0)=19.3

KenPom

Michigan State: No .7 (+28.40)

New Mexico: No .40 (+17. 74)

ESPN BPI

Michigan State: No .11 (+17.5)

New Mexico: No .46 (+11.2)

Richard Pitino, the son of Rick Pitino Sr, has a bachelor's degree in history from Providence in 2005 and coached with Billy Donovan from 2009 to 2011 at Florida.

During his time with the Gators, they advanced to two NCAA tournaments, including one Elite Eight appearance in 2010. He spent one year at FIU and was 18-14. In eight years as head coach of the Minnesota Gophers, he was 141–123 (.534).

His last four years have been in New Mexico, with a record of 88–48 (.647). He has improved each year, going from 13-19 to 22-12 to 26-10 to 27-7.

Donovan Dent is a 6'2 ", 185-pound Junior guard from Riverside, California, who played his high school ball at Centennial and led them to a State Championship. In high school in 2022, he was named California Mr. Basketball, John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year, and the Los Angeles Times Player of the Year.

Dent was a four-star recruit who averaged 16 points and 6.6 assists. In the 2023-20024 season, he averaged 14.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game and was named the 2nd-team All-Mountain West team and 1st-team NABC All-District team.

This season for New Mexico, he averages 20.6 points (49.7 FG%) and 2.3 rebounds. He shoots 41.5 % from three-point land and 78.1% from the free-throw line. He has 212 assists to 96 turnovers, with 28 blocks and 48 steals for the year.

Nelly Joseph is a 6'10", 240-pound senior center from Benin, Nigeria, who transferred from Iona two years ago. Joseph attended the NBA Academy Africa in Saly, Senegal, in high school, an elite training center for the top male and female prospects.

In 2023, he was First-Team All-MAAC and averaged 14.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game, fifth in the nation in 2022-23 with 19 double-doubles. Last season was his first year at Bryant, where he averaged 8.9 points and 8.2 rebounds and had 16 games where he scored double digits.

This season for New Mexico, Joseph shoots 55.3% from the field and has 51 blocks and 43 steals. He is not a three-point shooter and has a 40 assists to 75 turnovers ratio. He shoots 64.5 % at the free-throw line.

Mustapha Amzil is a 6'9", 215-pound RS-Sr forward from Helsinki, Finland, who transferred from Dayton. In the past, he was the Mountain West Co-Sixth Man of the Year with 14 games and 162 points off the bench.

He spent three years at Dayton. In high school, he played for HBA-Marsky, where one of his coaches was former Utah standout and NBA player Hanno Mottola. He represented Finland in over 80 games during his junior national team career and captained Finland at the 2019 U18 European Championship, averaging 12.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

At Dayton, he played in 34 games, starting 19, and averaged 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. This year for New Mexico, he averages 11.3 points (37.9 FG%) and 5.4 rebounds. He shoots 28.7% from three-point land and 70.5% from the free-throw line. He has a turnover ratio of 42 assists to 40 turnovers, with 21 blocks and 25 steals yearly.

Tru Washington is a 6'4", 205-pound sophomore from Phoenix, Arizona. He played his high school basketball for Compass Prep, where he was a consensus four-star recruit. As a freshman in the 2023-24 season, he appeared in 35 games, making one start, and averaged 6.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Washington had nine double-figure scoring games as a freshman, tied UNM's freshman steals record with 49, and was a consensus four-star recruit and top 100 player nationally, making him the highest-ranked recruit for the Lobos in a decade.

This year for New Mexico, he averages 11.2 points per game (42.6 FG%) and 3.9 rebounds. He shoots 35.3% from three-point land and 62.8% from the free-throw line. Washington has a 63 assists to 40 turnover ratio and has 10 blocks and 67 steals on the year.

CJ Noland is a 6'4", 210-pound transfer guard from Waxahachie, Texas, who previously played at North Texas. He led Waxahachie to the No.1 ranking in Texas. He was ranked No.86 nationally and among the top 20 shooting guards in the country. He finished as the No.7 player in the state of Texas. He also played two years at Oklahoma.

As a junior at North Texas, he appeared in 29 games, made 20 starts, and averaged 10.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.0 assists. This year for New Mexico, he averages 8.0 points (40.7 FG%) and 2.5 rebounds. He shoots 30.2% from three-point land and 74.1% from the free-throw line. He has 38 assists to 26 turnovers ratio and has 36 steals and nine blocks on the year.

Filip Borovicanin is a 6'9", 220-pound junior forward from Belgrade, Serbia, who transferred from Arizona. In high school, he played for KK Beko in his hometown, averaging 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.

At the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup in Hungary, he averaged 14.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals. He spent the 2023-2024 year at Arizona and played in 20 games, averaging 2.3 points and 1.6 rebounds.

This year for New Mexico, he averages 5.8 points (41.9 FG%) and 4.5 rebounds. He shoots 30.3% from three-point land and 65.2 % from the free-throw line. He has a 39 assists and 33 turnovers ratio and adds eight blocks and 23 steals for the year.

Jovan Milicevic is a 6'10", 240-pound forward from Toronto, Ontario, who played at Dream City Christian High School. Milicevic represented Canada at the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup in Spain, averaging 6.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

For New Mexico this year, he averaged 4.0 points (48.4 FG%) and 2.1 rebounds. He shoots 45.6 percent from three-point land and 57.9% from the free-throw line. He has a 15 assists to 12 turnovers ratio with five blocks and 11 steals for the year.

Braden Appelhans is a 6'7", 195-pound redshirt sophomore from Blue Springs, Missouri. He played at Western Reserve Academy in high school and was highly regarded as a shooter. He averaged 3.5 points (40.5 FG%) this year and 0.8 rebounds. He shoots 43.8% from three-point land and 76.9% from the free-throw line. He has 14 assists and five turnovers ratio with five blocks and nine steals for the year.

Kayde Dotson is a 6'2", 190-pound freshman from Beaumont, Texas, who played at Beaumont United. In 2024, he averaged 18.0 points and 3.2 assists per game and ranked the No. 30 combo guard nationally and the No. 13 player in Texas. He was Texas 6A All-State and led Beaumont United to the 2021 and 2022 Texas 5A state championships and a 2023 Texas 6A runner-up finish. This year for New Mexico, he averages 2.4 points (41.7 FG%) and 0.4 rebounds. He has 24 assists to 15 turnovers ratio with two blocks and 13 steals for the year.

Atiki Ally Atiki is a 24-year old, 6'10", 225-pound senior forward from Mwanza, Tanzania, who transferred from BYU, where he played for three seasons. Atiki is ranked among the all-time block leaders at BYU. In high school, he played at the London Basketball Academy in Canada and was ranked as the No. 5 prospect in Canada in the class of 2021 by Canada's National Preparatory Association. In college, he appeared in 23 games for BYU a year ago and averaged 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. This year for New Mexico, he averages 2.0 points (57.8 FG%) and 2.5 rebounds. He shoots 45% from the free throw line, has nine assists to 12 turnovers ratio, and has 25 blocks and 10 steals for the year.