LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The defending undisputed Western Athletic Conference Champion and four-consecutive WAC Tournament Champion NM State Aggies (5-5) are out for a season series sweep in the I-10 Rivalry on Saturday at 7 p.m. when they visit UTEP (6-3) at the Don Haskins Center. Both teams are looking to snap three-game losing skids as the Aggies are coming off a 79-61 loss to Rio Grande Rival New Mexico on Wednesday, while the Miners are coming off Sunday's 84-68 loss at Washington State.
 
SERIES RECORD: This is the second longest series in NM State history, as the Aggies lead the series that started a century ago 108-101. NM State has won two straight, five of the six previous meetings between the teams and has taken six of the last nine contests. The Aggies won the last contest 73-59 on Dec. 2 in Las Cruces. The teams split the series last season with NM State winning 71-64 on Dec. 6, 2014 at the Pan American Center, while UTEP grabbed a 77-76 win in El Paso on Nov. 22, 2014. Going back further, the Aggies won 86-73 in Las Cruces on Nov. 15, 2013 and followed it with a 77-68 win at El Paso on Nov. 23, 2013. NM State also won 55-51 on Feb. 23, 2013 at the Pan Am Center. The Aggies are 50-59 in El Paso, 14-25 at the Haskins Center. NM State also is 1-0 against the Miners on a neutral court (Anthony, N.M.) and 57-42 in Las Cruces.
 
MEDIA COVERAGE: Saturday's game can be heard live on the Aggie Sports Network and over the Las Cruces radio airwaves on KWML, 570AM with NM State Hall of Famer Jack Nixon on the call.
 
There is no television for the game, but a pay-per-view webcast is available from UTEP at www.utepathletics.com.
 
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB: Live stats are available for most games at www.nmstatesports.com at no cost all season long and.
 
ABOUT THE AGGIES: NM State dropped its third straight game for the first time since Dec. 13-20, 2014 when the Aggies lost at Oral Roberts 86-83, at Baylor 66-55 and to New Mexico 69-67.
 
NM State dropped its second game at home this season with the 62-59 defeat by Wyoming. NM State had its 11-game winning streak at the Pan American Center was snapped with the 83-74 loss to New Mexico on Nov. 15 and had won four more before the loss to the Cowboys. Still, since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Aggies sport a 49-6 record at the Pan Am (.891).
 
In the last 62 contests played by NM State at the Pan Am, the Aggies are 56-6 (.903).
 
NM State did not score a 3-point field goal (0-7) in the 79-61 loss at New Mexico. The last time the Aggies didn't score a triple was exactly 14 years earlier, on Dec. 16, 2001 when they were 0-8 from the arc in a 70-49 loss to UNM at The Pit.
 
Sophomore Pascal Siakam tallied the first 20-20 game in 13 seasons with his 24 points and 23 rebounds in a win over UTEP on Dec. 2. It's the most rebounds for an Aggie since Chris Jackson's 23 at North Texas on Feb. 1, 2003.
 
Siakam was named the WAC Player of the Week the first three weeks of this season. He is second in the nation in field goals made (92), is ninth nationally in scoring (23.4 ppg), fifth in rebounding (12.4 rpg) and fifth in double-doubles (8). He's 54th in blocked shots (2.10) and 45th in minutes played (35.40). He leads the WAC in all six categories as well.
 
Siakam collected his second 30-point game with his 35 points (with 13 rebounds) against Robert Morris. He becomes the first Aggie to post multiple 30-point games in the same season since Troy Gillenwater had four in 2010-11. His first was 30 points against Tennessee Tech when he became the first Aggie to score 30 since Daniel Mullings on Jan. 25, 2014 scored 32 at UT Pan American (now UT Rio Grande Valley).
 
Siakam has not double-doubled only twice this season, both times against New Mexico. He had 23 points and eight rebounds on Nov. 15, with 21 points and four boards on Dec. 16.
 
The Aggies posted a 23-11 campaign in 2014-15 that included a 13-1 WAC record and the outright regular season championship. They won a record fourth consecutive WAC Tournament. No other program in the history of the Western Athletic Conference has ever won more than two straight tournaments.
 
The Aggies are also coming off appearing in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, and five in the last six seasons. The Ags are aiming to match the school record of five straight appearances set first from 1967-to-1971 under Lou Henson and then again from 1990-to-1994 under Neil McCarthy.
 
Junior Ian Baker, a Preseason All-WAC First Team by both the coaches and media, is questionable for the game after his injury at UNM. Currently, Baker is eighth in the WAC in scoring (14.1 ppg), fifth in 3-point field goals (2.30 pg) and seventh in assists (3.40 apg).
 
Of the 14 players on the NM State roster, nine are from countries other than the United States.  Four players are from Toronto, Canada, with two from France, one from Cameroon, one from Colombia, and one from Mexico.
 
MENZIES MARKS: Now in his ninth season at New Mexico State, head coach Marvin Menzies is the Dean of WAC Coaches. Menzies is writing himself into the annals of NM State history. With a record of 180-105, Menzies is third on the all-time win list for NM State Coaches. He's reached the 175 win mark faster than the two men in front of him on the win list: Hall of Famer Lou Henson and Neil McCarthy. Henson (1966-75, 1997-2005) leads the group with 289 wins on the Aggie bench (289-152, 16 years). McCarthy (1985-97) has 229 victories (229-114, 12 years). He passed UNM's Bob King (1962-72) for ninth on the WAC all-games win list at 176 with the win over Houston Baptist. He's ninth on the win list for WAC only games with 90, and is third in WAC only winning percentage at .714 in front of the late Jerry Tarkanian at Fresno State (1995-2002). Even with all the winning, Menzies collected his first Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year Award last year when the Aggies won the regular season by five games. Menzies was named one of Forbes' top 25 college coaches for the money in November 2014.
 
SUPER SOPHOMORE SIAKAM: Sophomore Pascal Siakam is making a national name for himself with his strong play in the first third of the season. Siakam became the first Aggie to post a 20-rebound game in 13 years when he recorded the program's 10th 20-20 game with a 24-point, 23-rebound game against UTEP. Chris Jackson had the last of both on Feb. 1, 2003 when he posted 20 points and 23 boards at North Texas. The 23 boards are tied for the seventh most in a game in program history and are the most in NCAA Division I this season. They were also the most in the WAC since Paul Millsap of Louisiana Tech had 28 against San Jose State on Feb. 15, 2006. Against Wyoming he collected 14 points and 15 rebounds for his eighth double-double and 15th of his career. Siakam became the first person ever to be selected as the WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week in three consecutive weeks with his selection in the first three weeks. The 6-9 forward from Douala, Cameroon, established a new career-high when he dropped 35 points on Robert Morris to go with 13 rebounds. He followed it with 26 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots at Air Force. The 35 points are the most since Justin Hawkins scored 37 against Hawaii at the Pan Am on March 8, 2008. He is also the first Aggie to post multiple 30-point games in a season since Troy Gillenwater in 2010-11. He had 30 against Tennessee Tech, becoming the first Aggie to score 30 since Daniel Mullings had 32 against Texas-Pan American (UT Rio Grande Valley) on Jan. 25, 2014. He also chalked up 11 rebounds and set a career-best with four assists. There have been 14 back-to-back Men's Players of the Week in the WAC (including Siakam), and the closest to three straight were three in four weeks done by San Diego State's Michael Cage in 1983-84 and NM State's Daniel Mullings in 2013-14. Selected the WAC Preseason Player of the Year by the media, Siakam is second in the nation in field goals made (92), is ninth nationally in scoring (23.4 ppg), fifth in rebounding (12.4 rpg), fifth in double-doubles (8), 54th in blocked shots (2.10) and 45th in minutes played (35.40), leading the WAC in all. Siakam also has the top two of the top three scoring games in the league this year. The league's Freshman of the Year in 2014-15, Siakam was a first team All-WAC selection as a freshman and was honored as a first team NABC All-District VII performer last season. In two seasons he has 670 career points, 386 career rebounds. He also has 82 career blocked shots and tied for ninth on the Aggie career list with Martin Iti (2006-08) and Troy Gillenwater (2008-11).
 
THIS BAKER DELIVERS: Junior Ian Baker is a vital leader for the Aggies and how much it showed was evident after he went down at New Mexico when he went down after running head-first into a blind screen and didn't return. He is questionable for the UTEP contest. The second leading scorer on the team,  the 6-0 guard from Washington, D.C., is averaging 14.1 points a contest, ranked eighth in the WAC. He's also third in the WAC in free throw shooting, hitting 82.8 percent from the line (24-of-29). He's fifth in the league in 3-pointers per game (2.30), sixth in 3-point percentage (.371, 23-of-62) and seventh in assists (3.40). He scored a career-high 22 points against UTEP and 20 vs. Wyoming after picking up 17 points at Air Force with a career-high eight rebounds. Baker popped for 19 points in consecutive games against New Mexico and Tennessee Tech. The elder statesman of the team, Baker was named Preseason First Team All-WAC by both the coaches and the media.
 
WARMIN' UP WILKINS: Sophomore Johnathon Wilkins has made the most out of his last few games. The 6-10, 225 pound forward grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in the loss to Wyoming and nearly had a double-double with eight points as well. Against UTEP, Wilkins posted a season-high  10 points. At UNM, Wilkins had eight points with a career-high three assists.After missing the first four games due to an administrative error, Wilkins has moved into the starting lineup and is averaging 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds a game. Wilkins played in all 34 games last season, starting 10 as a redshirt freshman.
 
HENSON INDUCTED: Aggie Legend Lou Henson was officially inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Nov. 20 as part of a class of eight individuals, including three coaches, who formed the NCB Class of 2015 at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Mo. Henson had a 41-year career as a collegiate head coach, all at the NCAA Division I level, posting a record of 779-412 with a 65.4 winning percentage. He's the all-time winningest coach at both New Mexico State and Illinois, and started his career at Hardin-Simmons. Henson, a 1955 graduate of NM State, coached 16 years in two stints for his alma mater, posting a 289-152 record. He also tallied a 423-224 mark in 21 years at Illinois and amassed a 67-36 record in four seasons at HSU. He is currently 11th all-time in career Division I victories, and was sixth on that list when he fully retired from the floor in January of 2005. Henson is one of only 12 coaches to take two different schools to the Final Four.
 
THE FAVORITE: New Mexico State is the prohibitive favorite to win the Western Athletic Conference by both the league's coaches and the media.  The media went on to name sophomore forward Pascal Siakam as the league's preseason player of the year.
 
The Aggies received seven of the eight first place votes and 49 points from the coaches, the most they could receive since they couldn't vote for their own team or players.  Grand Canyon was second with 39 points and CSU Bakersfield third with 36 and the other first place vote.
 
The media, with no voting restrictions, picked up 13 of the 14 first place votes and was third on the ballot that gave CSU Bakersfield a first place vote for a total of 110 points.
 
The media gave Grand Canyon second with 88 and Missouri-Kansas City third with 87.
 
Siakam and junior guard Ian Baker were the Aggies selected on both the Coaches and Media's Preseason All-WAC first team. Siakam was the media's preseason player of the year, while UMKC's Martez Harrison was the coaches preseason player of the year.
 
LOOKING BACK: The New Mexico State Aggies were outrebounded for just the second time this season and failed to make a 3-point field goal as they fell to New Mexico 79-61 in the second game of the Rio Grande Rivalry series this season.
 
Pascal Siakam collected 21 points, but was held to a season-low four rebounds with a blocked shot. Tanveer Bhullar just missed a double-double for the second time against the Lobos as he equaled his career-highs with nine points and ine rebounds. Jalyn Pennie posted a career-high with three blocked shots. Aggie guard Ian Baker left the game after a crash on a screen 10 minutes in and never returned.
 
The Aggies shot just 45 percent from the floor, but UNM hit 48 percent. UNM dominated the glass 40-28.
 
ABOUT THE MINERS: UTEP is 6-3 on the season after losing at Washington State 84-68 last Saturday, and has lost three straight since the Aggies won on Dec. 2. The Miners are led by guard Lee Moore (6-4, Jr., Kennesaw, Ga.) who averages 15.9 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting .300 from the 3-point arc. Guard Earvin Morris (6-4, Sr., Memphis, Tenn.) adds 15.4 points, 4.1 boards and 2.5 assists per contest. Center Hooper Vint (6-11, Sr., Van Buren, Ark.) averages 11.4 points and leads the Miners with 5.7 boards, with guard Dominic Artis (6-3, Jr., San Francisco, Calif.) chipping in 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists with 1.7 steals an outing. UTEP is scoring 76.9 points a game, and allowing 68.9 per contest.
 
 
CHALLENGING STRETCH: The Aggies started tough holiday campaign last Sunday that leads them to Western Athletic Conference play. NM State fell to Wyoming and rival UNM, and now has UTEP Saturday and Oral Roberts on Monday. The Aggies then visit No. 16/14 Baylor on Dec. 23. After Christmas, it's at Wichita State on Dec. 28 (receiving votes in the polls), back home for NAIA No. 4 Arizona Christian on Dec. 30 before a trip to UC Irvine on Jan. 2.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Aggies return to the Pan American Center on Monday night when they host Oral Roberts from the Summit League. NM State is out to avenge last season's 86-83 loss in Tulsa.
 
The Golden Eagles are 8-4 on the season after losing at Missouri State 85-66 on Wednesday. ORU visits LSU on Saturday before coming to Las Cruces and has dropped two straight before taking on the Tigers. The Golden Eagles are led by guard Obi Emegano (6-3, Sr., Edmond, Okla.) who is 10th nationally averaging 23.3 points, while adding 4.6 rebounds while shooting .421 from the 3-point arc. Guard Jalen Bradley (6-1, Jr., Norfolk, Neb.) adds 10.3 points, 2.9 boards and 2.8 assists per contest. Center Albert Owens (6-9, So., Cedar Hill, Texas.) averages 10.1 points, 5.7 boards and 1.8 blocked shots, with forward Brandon Conley (6-7, Sr., Fort Worth, Texas) chipping in 8.3 points and leading the team with 7.6 rebounds an outing. ORU is scoring 79.2 points a game, and allowing 76.4 per contest.