In 1912, New Mexico joined the United States as the 47th state.

In 1914, the day after the Ford Motor Co. announced the “$5 Day,” more than 10,000 men jockeyed for places as each sought to become one of the army of 22,000 workers who would benefit under the $10,000,000 profit-sharing plan.

In 1919, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, died at the age of 60.

In 1925, Paavo Nurmi, known as the “Flying Finn” and regarded as the greatest runner of his day, set world records in the mile run and 5,000-meter run within the space of 1 hour in his first U.S. appearance, an indoor meet at New York City’s new Madison Square Garden.

In 1942, a Pan American Airways plane arrived in New York, completing the first around-the-world flight by a commercial airliner.

In 1950, Britain formally recognized the communist government of China.

In 1961, Vice President Richard Nixon made official that he had been defeated by Sen. John F. Kennedy in one of the closest presidential elections in history.

UPI File Photo

In 1984, the first test-tube quadruplets, all boys, were born in Melbourne, Australia.

In 1994, American skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right knee in an attack that forced her out of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The assault was traced to four men with links to her leading rival, Tonya Harding.

In 1996, the Blizzard of 1996 began, dropping up to 4 feet of snow and paralyzing Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and other major cities in the Northeast. The winter weather was blamed for dozens of deaths.

File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI

In 1999, an agreement ended a six-month player lockout by owners of National Basketball Association teams.

In 2010, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only officially recognized survivor of both the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that led to the Japanese surrender in World War II, died of stomach cancer at age 93.

In 2014, Martin Walsh was sworn in as Boston’s first new mayor in more than two decades, succeeding Thomas Menino.

In 2021, thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to disrupt Congress’ certification of the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor. The riots resulted in five civilian deaths and hundreds of criminal cases.

With nearly 20 percent of the conference’s men’s basketball games in the books, the top teams in the Mountain West have already separated themselves. 

New Mexico (12-3, 4-0), Utah State (12-3, 4-0) and UNLV (9-5, 3-0) are all undefeated in conference play. Boise State (11-4, 3-1), Colorado State (8-6, 2-1) and San Diego State (9-3, 2-1) have just one MWC loss.

The Broncos, who were picked to win the MWC in the preseason coaches poll, dropped their first home game of the season Saturday afternoon to San Diego State, 76-68. Boise State had won five straight game overall entering the showdown with the Aztecs. 

After beginning conference play with victories over three of the MWC’s weakest teams in Air Force (3-11, 0-3), San Jose State (7-9, 0-4) and Wyoming (9-6, 2-2), the Broncos are now in a tough portion of their schedule. 

Boise State hosts UNLV at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night before traveling to Utah State on Saturday. The Broncos then return home to face Wyoming as a tuneup for road matchups with New Mexico and Colorado State. 

“We won’t look that far ahead,” Broncos head coach Leon Rice said after the San Diego State loss. “I always tell our guys that our issues are our issues until we solve them. This time of the year, you’re still solving issues and figuring stuff out. And new ones can pop up.”

Utah State has been the story of the MWC this season.

Picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll under first-year head coach Jared Calhoun, the Aggies have been perfect outside of a mid-December home loss to Big West leader UC San Diego (13-2). Utah State’s biggest margin of victory in MWC play was Saturday’s 89-83 win over Fresno State (4-11, 0-4), a game in which the Aggies trailed by 17 points in the first half. 

Friday night, Junior Joseph hit an overtime buzzer-beater against Nevada  (8-7, 0-4) to keep New Mexico’s perfect MWC record intact. The Lobos boast an early-season win over UCLA but sit way down at No. 70 in the NET Rankings, trailing Utah State (No. 29), San Diego State (35), Boise State (57) and Nevada (64) among MWC teams. 

San Diego State and Utah State were the only MWC representatives in the latest NCAA Tournament projection by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. 

While sitting at 3-0 in conference play, UNLV has yet to face a team with a MWC victory. The Rebels own wins over Air Force, Fresno State and San Jose State. 

The Aztecs bounced back from a Dec. 28 home loss to Utah State — also on a buzzer-beater — with a big road victory at Boise State. San Diego State is the top MWC team in KenPom at No. 34, followed by Utah State (No. 48), Nevada (58), Boise State (60) and New Mexico (65).

“They are a great defensive team. Not a good defensive team, a great one,” Rice said of the Aztecs, who check in at No. 13 in KenPom’s defensive rating. “I think they’re protecting the paint maybe better than — I mean they always do a good job of it — but this team has really stepped it up there.”