LAS CRUCES — The screams coming from the hotel meeting room in Hutchinson, Kansas, on March 17 sounded just like the ones coming from any sports bar in Las Cruces.
As the New Mexico State men’s basketball team executed a familiar play on national television to get Will McNair an easy layup — the Aggies now call the play “Floppy Punch” —followed by the same play leading to a kick out 3-pointer for Teddy Allen in the team’s huge upset win over the UConn Huskies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, a junior college basketball team nobody at NMSU had ever met or played against was going crazy in middle America.