The Louisville men’s basketball team’s record does not reflect the progress it made in New York.

U of L (2-3) will have a chance to change when it hosts New Mexico State (3-4) this afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center.

After an 0-2 run at the Empire Classic, second-year head coach Kenny Payne said the Cardinals are “really close to being a really good team.”

To get there, they must clean up the mistakes that led to a one-point loss to No. 17 Texas and an eight-point loss to cross-state rival Indiana on back-to-back days at Madison Square Garden. In both games, Louisville fought back to take late second-half leads only to squander them during the final minutes.

“My message (to the team) was, ‘I hope that now I don’t have to fight you on the little things,’” Payne said after losing to the Longhorns on a last-second shot. “‘I hope you understand why I push you the way I push you — so that, when you’re in these battles, we come out on top.’

“‘We know we’re not going to get the ball bouncing in our favor,’” he added. “‘We still have to win.’”

Louisville basketball: Takeaways from the Cards’ encouraging, yet frustrating, showing at the Empire Classic

For as quickly as things can change in today’s college sports landscape, very few Division I programs have experienced it at the level New Mexico State men’s basketball has over the past year.

Jason Hooten is the Aggies’ third head coach in as many seasons. Coming from Sam Houston State, he replaced Greg Heiar, who less than a year into the job was fired just days after the 2022-23 campaign was suspended in February amid separate investigations into hazing allegations within the team and a now-former player’s involvement in a fatal shooting that occurred on a rival’s campus.

Hooten is starting from scratch. Every player from Heiar’s roster left the program via graduation or the NCAA transfer portal.

Seton Hall guard transfer Femi Odukale, a 6-foot-6 senior, led New Mexico State in scoring (15 points per game) and rebounding (7.5) during its first seven games of the season. Four other players are averaging 10 or more points, but none are producing five or more boards an outing.

The Aggies are also coming off back-to-back losses, at the hands of Fresno State and Southern Illinois, in the Cancun Challenge. They are 255th (-6.63) out of 362 DI teams on statistician Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted efficiency rankings.

Here’s what you need to know to follow along from home:

Louisville basketball vs. New Mexico State start time

U of L and New Mexico State are scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Yum! Center.

Louisville vs. New Mexico State basketball betting odds, score prediction

Betting odds: Louisville is a 7.5-point favorite (-110) on DraftKings, which set the over-under at 145 points (-110).

Score prediction: KenPom gives the Cards a 77% chance of winning and projects a final score of 78-70 in their favor. Bart Torvik is also forecasting a Louisville victory (78%), with a projected final score of 80-71.

What channel is Louisville vs. New Mexico State on today?

The game between the Cards and the Aggies will not air on a traditional TV channel.

Kent Taylor (play-by-play) and Jody Demling (analyst) will call the game on ACC Network Extra, which is available exclusively via livestream.

If your cable or live TV streaming package includes ACC Network, you already have access to ACC Network Extra. You can access it via ESPN.com/watch or the ESPN app after logging in with your cable or live TV streaming service credentials.

If you don’t have cable, you can get ACC Network — and therefore ACC Network Extra — through streaming services such as fuboTV (FREE TRIAL) and YouTube TV (FREE TRIAL).

How to listen to Louisville vs. New Mexico State on the radio

Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) will have the call on the Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM and WGTK 970 AM in Louisville).

You can also listen online via GoCards.com.

C.L. Brown: Louisville basketball can win with its young PGs, but there will be growing pains

Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.