GAME NOTES: The San Jose State Spartans try to get off to a better start tonight as they face off against the New Mexico State Aggies in Western Athletic Conference action at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces.

On Thursday night, the Spartans paid a visit to Louisiana Tech and had a hard time locating their offense before eventually suffering a 71-64 setback that dropped the squad to an even 5-5 in conference and just two games over .500 overall.

As for the Aggies, they've been out of action for a week now since they too visited Ruston to challenge the Bulldogs. However, unlike SJSU, New Mexico State managed to collect a 91-77 win over LaTech, the team's fifth win in the last six outings.

SJSU won the first meeting of the season with NMSU two weeks ago with a 93-84 decision at home, which means the all-time series now stands at 27-11 in favor of the Aggies.

The Spartans offense was nowhere to be found in the first seven and a half minutes on Thursday as LaTech opened the game with a 15-0 run. Eventually, Adrian Oliver managed to put together a 22-point effort, shooting 8-of-17 from the floor, but it wasn't enough as San Jose State suffered the double-digit loss on the road. Justin Graham scrambled to post 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, but the team still suffered 17 turnovers and shot just 3-of-14 beyond the arc. Oliver remains the top scoring threat in the WAC heading into the weekend with his 22.3 ppg, shooting an impressive 42 percent beyond the arc and 88.3 percent at the free-throw line. Chris Oakes checks in with 11.2 ppg and 9.6 rpg, while Graham tacks on 10.2 ppg and a team-best 100 assists over the course of 22 games for a squad that currently shows one more assist (287) than turnover (286).

New Mexico State shot an impressive 53.6 percent from the field a week ago at the Thomas Assembly Center as it lit up the scoreboard for 91 points. Hamidu Rahman led the way with 22 and added a team-best 12 rebounds, while Jahmar Young delivered 19 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals along the way. Gordo Castillo made a splash off the bench with 17 points in just 19 minutes as he converted 5-of-6 behind the three-point line, while Wendell McKines was a rebound shy of a double-double with his 13-point effort. Young is leading a quartet of double digit scorers at the moment with his 21.2 ppg, feasting at the free-throw line where he has made good on 116-of-138 opportunities. Jonathan Gibson is good for another 18.8 ppg and is the primary three-point threat for the group at 40.2 percent, yet the squad overall is hitting on only 34.8 percent of those perimeter shots at the moment.

Clearly the Aggies can generate points almost at will, but allowing a staggering 78.7 ppg this season means the defense for NMSU isn't helping much. However, the Spartans are hitting the floor after a short break and will be on the road yet again, so this is a meeting made for New Mexico State.