New Mexico vs. Utah State preview: Lobos looking to rebound from loss over the weekend

New Mexico enters Wednesday's game after losing 71-78 in overtime on Saturday to San Diego State. The game was emotionally draining as the referees made a mistake (as acknowledged by the Mountain West conference) at the end of regulation that allowed the Aztecs to extend the game into overtime where they pulled off the victory.

Fortunately, this game against an over-matched Utah State team should allow UNM to right the ship unless of course, they are still reeling from their loss to SDSU.

Utah State is in the midst of a five-game losing streak in which their opponents are shooting 40 percent from downtown.Look for Elijah Brown and Xavier Adams to keep that hot shooting going against the Aggies. In Brown's case, it could be an opportunity for him to get his shooting back on track after a rough 4/20 game against the Aztecs.

For Utah State's part, the five-game losing streak has been something of a concern for head coach Tim Duryea. The culmination came with a 65-84 blowout loss to the lowly Wyoming Cowboys this past Saturday.

Coach Duryea has promised that lineup changes will abound as the Aggies attempt to find working combinations. He has otherwise been cryptic about what these changes will be. However, two players that Aggies' fans can rely on are Jalen Moore (14.8 ppg) and Chris Smith (14.5 ppg). These two have been USU's most consistent players all season.

In fact, the match up that I am interested in seeing is Smith and Brown. Both men are 6'4'' guards with Smith ten pounds heavier. Both have a proclivity for putting points on the board quickly. I also hope to see if emerging defensive ace Sam Logwood might get some time on Moore.

Logwood had three blocks and four steals against San Diego State and though he will be slightly undersized compared to Moore, I believe he could use his length to disrupt Moore's game. That is to say nothing of Tim Williams, who has been an absolute force down low for New Mexico. He will prove to be too much for the Aggies to handle tonight.

Tonight's game is on the CBS Sports Network at 8:00 pm MST. Utah State is searching for answers, while UNM's loss against SDSU was a minor hiccup. Thus, I'm picking the Lobos to win this one 82-67.