LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The defending undisputed Western Athletic Conference Champion and four-consecutive WAC Tournament Champion NM State Aggies (13-8, 5-1) close out the first half of WAC play with the Lou Henson Classic against UT Rio Grande Valley (6-15, 2-4) on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Pan American Center. The Aggies are coming off Saturday's 68-67 double overtime win at CSU Bakersfield, while the Vaqueros lost at Seattle 70-59.
 
LOU HENSON CLASSIC: The Lou Henson Classic has been an Aggie tradition since the first game against Chicago State on Dec. 2, 2006 when NM State won 80-74. The Aggies have gone 10-1 in Lou Henson Classic games, with their only loss coming to North Texas, 75-72 (Dec. 1, 2007). The game honors Aggie Hall of Fame coach Lou Henson, who was the bench boss from 1966 to 1975, and again from 1997 to 2005. After two stints at his alma mater, Henson is the all-time winningest coach at NM State with 289 wins and ranks 11th all-time in career Division I wins with 779. Doña Ana County has proclaimed Saturday as Lou Henson Day in conjunction with the game to celebrate Henson's induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and his contributions to the county.
 
SERIES RECORD: This is the 14th meeting between the Aggies and the former Texas-Pan American, with NM State holding a 10-3 advantage. The series started on Jan. 8, 1969 when the Aggies handed the now Vaqueros a 109-74 defeat at the Pan American Center. NM State has won the last seven contests with UTRGV, including a 69-48 triumph in Edinburg, Texas on March 4, 2015 and a 53-48 win at the Pan Am on Jan. 31, 2015. The NM State holds a 6-1 series advantage at the Pan Am, a 3-2 in Edinburg and a 1-0 edge on a neutral floor. The last UTRGV win in the series was on Feb. 11, 2002, when the Broncs posted a 100-86 in south Texas.
 
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.
 
The game will be televised by AggieVision with Adam Young (play-by-play) and Patrick Knapp (analyst). The telecast will be carried by Comcast Cable in New Mexico and also air live on Fox Sports Arizona Plus (DirecTV 686-1, Dish 453/9576), Fox Sports Southwest Plus (DirecTV 676-2, Dish 412/9574), Fox College Sports Pacific, ESPN College Extra, ESPN3 and the WAC Digital Network.
 
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB: Live stats are available for most games at www.nmstatesports.com at no cost all season long.
 
ABOUT THE AGGIES: NM State has won four straight with the 68-67 double overtime win at CSU Bakersfield. The Aggies have also won four straight WAC games after their 14-game winning streak against WAC opponents was snapped with the loss 79-75 loss at Grand Canyon. The streak dated back to an 85-63 win over GCU on Jan. 22, 2015.
 
NM State has won four straight at home with the 80-62 win over Chicago State since dropping a second game at home this season with the 62-59 loss to 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. Since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Aggies sport a 53-6 record at the Pan Am (.898).
 
In the last 66 contests played by NM State at the Pan Am, the Aggies are 60-6 (.909).
 
NM State has won 30 straight Western Athletic Conference games at the Pan American Center. That doesn't include a non-conference win over current member CSU Bakersfield prior to joining the league.
 
The Aggies game at Wichita State has been rescheduled for Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. MT. The teams were to play Dec. 28, but due to flight cancellations caused by Winter Storm Goliath, NM State was not able to travel.
 
The tipoff time for the Aggies game at Chicago State on Feb. 13 has been moved to 1 p.m. Central/Noon Mountain to help NM State travel to Wichita following the contest.
 
Junior Ian Baker was named the WAC Player of the Week for his performance and heroics last week. Baker's buzzer-beating 3-pointer downed CSU Bakersfield 68-67 in double OT. He averaged 15.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists for the week while hitting 11-of-11 free throws.
 
Baker was selected a Preseason All-WAC First Team by both the coaches and media. Currently, he leads the WAC and is 26th nationally in free throw percentage (.871, 61-of-70), is fifth in scoring (15.0 ppg), seventh in 3-point field goals (2.29 pg) and seventh in assists (3.90 apg)
 
Aggie sophomore Pascal Siakam is one of the 31 players on the Lou Henson Award mid-season watch list. The award named after the Aggie coaching legend is presented to the top player from a mid-major institution by College Insider.
 
Siakam has three 30-point games this season with career-highs of 35 points against Robert Morris and Oral Roberts, and 30 points against Tennessee Tech. He is the first Aggie to post multiple 30-point games in the same season since Troy Gillenwater had four in 2010-11.
 
Siakam tallied the first 20-20 game in 13 seasons for the Aggies 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 and added a fourth this season. He leads the nation in field goals made (185) and double-doubles (18), is sixth nationally rebounding (11.7 rpg) and 11th in scoring (22.1 ppg). He's 35th in blocked shots (2.14) and 46th in minutes played (35.48). He leads the WAC in all six categories as well.
 
Siakam had his 10-game double-double streak snapped at CSU Bakersfield. He not recorded a double-double in three games this season: the two games against New Mexico where had 23 points and eight rebounds on Nov. 15, and 21 points and four boards on Dec. 16, then the 21 points and nine rebounds at CSUB on Jan. 23.
 
The Aggies are coming off a record fourth consecutive WAC Tournament Championship. No other program in the history of the Western Athletic Conference has ever won more than two straight tournaments. The Ags have appeared 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.
 
Of the 13 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: 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 188-108, 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 now eighth on the win list for WAC only games with 95 passing Gary Colson at UNM and Fresno State (1980-94) with 93. He is third in WAC only winning percentage at .720 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.
 
ICE, ICE BAKER IS WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior Ian Baker collected the third game-winning shot in his career on his way to being named the WAC Player of the Week. The 6-0 guard from Washington, D.C., buried a 28-foot 3-pointer that swished as the buzzer sounded to beat CSU Bakersfield 68-67 in double overtime. Baker averaged 15.5 points a game, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists while hitting 11-of-11 from the foul line for the week. Baker scored 16 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to go with six assists in the CSUB victory. He posted 15 points in the win at Seattle U. The shot against CSUB goes down for "Ian Baker: The Big Shot Maker" with his driving layup with 2.2 seconds to play against Texas Southern and his left elbow 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds to go against UC Irvine that won games in last season. Oh, and he buried a 3-pointer with four seconds in regulation last season against No. 24/25 Colorado State to send that game into overtime. Baker is averaging 15.0 points a contest, second on the team and fifth in the WAC. He leads the WAC and is 26th nationally in free throw shooting, hitting 87.1 percent from the line (61-of-70). He's hit 13 straight free throws and made 24 of his last 25 attempts from the line dating back to the Dec. 21 vs. Oral Roberts. He's seventh in the league in 3-pointers per game (2.29), assists (3.90) and in 3-point percentage (.372, 48-of-129). His worth to the team was proven at New Mexico when he went down in the 10th minute at New Mexico after running head-first into a blind screen and couldn't return in the Aggies 79-61 loss. He was cleared to play three days later, the morning of the game at UTEP, and turned in a career performance with 26 points, including going 6-of-7 from the 3-point arc. He followed that with his fourth 20-point game of the season with 21 points at Baylor. He scored 22 points in the first UTEP game and 20 vs. Wyoming after picking up 17 points at Air Force with a career-high eight rebounds. Baker also popped for 19 points in consecutive games against New Mexico and Tennessee Tech. He has 705 career points, has hit 116-of-286 (.406) 3-pointers, and dished 196 career assists. The elder statesman of the team, Baker was named Preseason First Team All-WAC by both the coaches and the media.
 
SUPER SOPHOMORE SIAKAM: Sophomore Pascal Siakam continues making a national name for himself with his strong play and was one of 31 players named to the midseason watch list for the Lou Henson Award recognizing the top mid-major player of the year. Selected the WAC Preseason Player of the Year by the media, Siakam leads the nation in field goals made (185) and double-doubles (18), is sixth in rebounding (11.7 rpg), 12th in scoring (22.1 ppg), 35th in blocked shots (2.14) and 46th in minutes played (35.48), leading the WAC in all. He is the leading scorer of the 24 NCAA Division I players averaging a double-double (as of Monday) by 2.3 points a game. Siakam also has three of the top four scoring games in the WAC this year. The 6-9 forward from Douala, Cameroon, scored a 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds with three steals at Seattle for his 10th straight double-double, his 18th of the season and 25th of his career. The streak was snapped with his 21 points and nine boards at CSU Bakersfield. He notched a career-high six assists at UC Irvine. He was named the WAC Player of the Week for the fourth time this season on Dec. 28, becoming just the fourth player to do so in WAC history (Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech and Nick Fazekas, Nevada in 2005-06, and Daniel Mullings, NM State in 2013-14). Siakam matched his career-high in scoring against Oral Roberts collecting 35 points with 11 rebounds, then collected 26 points at Baylor with 10 rebounds. He previously 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. With his 30 points against Tennessee Tech, Siakam has three 30-point games this season and is the first Aggie to post multiple 30-point games in a season since Troy Gillenwater had four in 2010-11. 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. 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. 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. 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 55 games, he has 900 career points and 508 career rebounds. He also has 106 career blocked shots to rank seventh on the Aggie career list, passing Aggie Hall of Famer Johnny Roberson (1986-89) in eighth with 98. He needs 10 to reach Charles Goza (1995-99) in sixth with 116.
 
WARMIN' UP WILKINS: Sophomore Johnathon Wilkins has stepped up his play over the last month. The 6-10, 225 pound forward scored a career-high 13 points against Chicago State after his 12 points vs. Missouri-Kansas City that matched his scoring against Oral Roberts and Arizona Christian. He also added 10 at Grand Canyon and CSU Bakersfield. He grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in the loss to Wyoming and nearly had a double-double with eight points as well. 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 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds a game. Wilkins played in all 34 games last season, starting 10 as a redshirt freshman.
 
A SHINY PENNIE: Sophomore Jalyn Pennie had one of his best all-around games at UC Irvine. The 6-7, 180 pound forward from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, hit 4-of-9 3-pointers against the Anteaters, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds with an assist. It nearly mirrored his game at UTEP when he scored 14 points with eight boards and a blocked shot. Pennie posted 12 points with two key 3-pointers at Seattle U. He grabbed nine boards at Air Force and repeated the nine boards at Utah Valley. He also had three blocked shots at New Mexico and against Chicago State. A starter in the last 12 games, Pennie is averaging 5.8 points with 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and is eighth in the WAC with 0.57 blocked shots.
 
TALENTED TAYLOR: Sophomore Matt Taylor has stepped up his workmanlike play for the Aggies. The 6-5 guard from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is averaging 5.3 points a contest, with 4.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for NM State. He's also got 12 blocks on the season, and is eighth in the WAC averaging 0.57 per game. Taylor scored a career-high 13 points against Chicago State to go with eight rebounds. He scored nine points at UTEP and collected a career-high eight assists in El Paso on Dec. 19. It was the second time this season Taylor had nine against the Miners when he pulled down a career-high nine rebounds on Dec. 2. He also posted nine at Grand Canyon. In his first starting season, he is one of three Aggies who have starts in all 21 games.
 
HERE'S SIDY: Redshirt freshman Sidy Ndir has played well the couple of weeks. The 6-2, 180 pound guard from Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, France has come off the bench with his best games of the season. At Utah Valley, Ndir had a career-high 14 points with a career-high five rebounds and a steal, then at Grand Canyon he equaled his 14 points, going 4-of-6 from the floor, 2-2 from the 3-point arc. Against UMKC he scored nine points with four boards and two blocked shots, and followed with 10 points and three boards vs. Chicago State. He's raised his season average to 4.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists a game.
 
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.
 
AGGIES 11TH WAC SEASON: The 2015-16 season marks the 11th year of competition for NM State in the Western Athletic Conference, and it has been a successful combination for the Aggies in men's basketball. The Aggies won the regular season WAC Championship twice (2008 shared, 2015 outright) and the WAC Tournament Championship five times. Those five have come in the last six seasons, including the last four straight. Additionally in the 10 previous seasons, the Aggies have four second place finishes and three thirds. NM State was fourth in its first WAC season (2006). Since joining the WAC, the Aggies have a record of 116-48 (.707).
 
LOOKING BACK: The New Mexico State Aggies led only twice in the game, but when Ian Baker's 28-foot 3-pointer dropped through the net at the buzzer in the second overtime, it gave the Aggies a 68-67 win.
 
Pascal Siakam led NM State with 21 points but had his double-double streak snapped with just nine rebounds with three blocks. Baker got his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 boards to go with six assists. Johnathon Wilkins added 10 points.
 
The Aggies overcame a horrendous 28 percent first half to shoot 42.6 percent from the floor while locking down on CSUB, holding them to 38.5 percent (28.0 in the second half). But the Aggies were outrebounded by the 'Runners 45-40. The Aggie defense held CSUB to one point the last 10 minutes of regulation.
 
ABOUT THE VAQUEROS: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is 6-15 overall on the season, 2-4 in WAC play, after falling at Seattle 70-59 Saturday night. The Vaqueros are led by forward Shaquille Hines (6-8, Sr., Chicago, Ill.) with 13.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game. Guard Antonio Green (6-2, Fr., Tupelo, Miss.) adds 12.0 points, 4.1 boards and 2.6 3-pointers a contest. Forward Dakota Slaughter (6-7, Gr., Fishers, Ind.) averages 11.8 points, 4.5 boards and 1.8 3-pointers a game, while guard J.J. Thompson (6-0, Gr., Irving, Texas) averages 11.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4.9 assists an outing. Forward Dan Kimasa (6-10, So., Kigali City, Rwanda) chips in 10.0 points and a team leading 6.0 rebounds. UTRGV is scoring 67.8 points a game, and allowing 78.4 per contest.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Aggies open the second-half of WAC action against Grand Canyon next Thursday at the Pan Am. It's a rematch of the contest on Jan. 9.
 
The 'Lopes are 18-2 on the season, 5-0 in WAC play, after winning at Missouri-Kansas City 85-78 on Saturday. GCU hosts CSU Bakersfield on Thursday and Seattle Saturday before visiting Las Cruces. The 'Lopes are led by guard Joshua Braun (6-4, So., Anthem, Ariz.) with 17.8 points (second in the WAC), 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 3-pointers per game. Forward Grandy Glaze (6-6, Gr., Toronto, Ont., Canada) adds 13.7 points and 7.4 boards a contest to go with his WAC leading 63.8 field goal percentage. Guard Dominic Magee (6-4, Fr.-RS, Harvey, La.) averages 10.3 points and 2.8 boards in 12 games, while guard DeWayne Russell (5-11, Sr., Peoria, Ariz.) comes up with 9.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and dishes out a WAC leading 5.9 assists an outing. GCU is scoring a WAC leading 80.8 points a game, and allowing 69.9 per contest.