LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The defending undisputed Western Athletic Conference Champion, four-consecutive WAC Tournament Champion and WAC leading NM State Aggies (18-9, 9-1) open their final homestand of the regular season starting with CSU Bakersfield (18-7, 12-2) Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the Pan American Center. It's a battle for the lead in the WAC. The Aggies are coming off a 71-41 non-conference loss at Wichita State on Monday, while the 'Runners beat Utah Valley 91-69 in WAC play on Saturday in Bakersfield.
 
SERIES RECORD: This is the 11th meeting between the Aggies and CSU Bakersfield, with NM State holding a 10-0 series lead. The Aggies won an exciting double-overtime contest in the last meeting on Jan. 23, when Ian Baker hit a 28-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 68-67 win. NM State took all three games over CSUB last season, taking a 70-54 win in Bakersfield on Jan. 15, 2015, a 74-58 decision on Feb. 14, 2015 in Las Cruces, and a 57-53 victory in the WAC semifinals on March 13, 2015 in Las Vegas. The Aggies are 4-0 against the 'Runners in the Pan American Center, a 4-0 record against CSUB in Bakersfield (3-0 at the Icardo Center), and are 2-0 in Las Vegas..
 
MEDIA COVERAGE: Thursday's game can be heard live on the Aggie Sports Network (KWML 570AM Las Cruces, KDSK 1240 AM/93.7 FM Albuquerque, KNMZ 103.7 FM Alamogordo, KAMQ 1240 AM Carlsbad, KYVA 1230 AM Gallup) 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 Southwest Plus (DirecTV 676-1, Dish 447/9517), Altitude2 (DirecTV 681-1), ESPN College Extra, and ESPN3. It will air on a tape delayed basis on Fox Sports Arizona.
 
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 had its nine-game win streak snapped with the 71-41 loss to Wichita State. However, the Aggies still have their eight-game WAC win streak intact. This after a 14-game winning streak against WAC opponents was snapped with a loss 79-75 loss at Grand Canyon in January. NM State has won 29 of its last 31 games against WAC opponents.
 
NM State is riding a seven-game win streak at home with the 98-74 win over Utah Valley since dropping a second game at home this season with the 62-59 loss to Wyoming on Dec. 13. NM State had an 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 56-6 record at the Pan Am (.903).
 
In the last 69 contests played by NM State at the Pan Am, the Aggies are 63-6 (.913).
 
NM State has won 33 straight Western Athletic Conference games at the Pan American Center. That doesn't include a win over current member CSU Bakersfield prior to joining the league. It's the second longest conference home win streak in the nation behind Stephen F. Austin with 36.
 
Aggie Pascal Siakam became the first sophomore in NM State history to reach the 1,000 Point Club and the seventh in his first two seasons. The 33rd Aggie to score 1,000 career points, Siakam currently ranks 32nd on the career list with 1,017 points.
 
Siakam became the first in history to be named the WAC Men's Player of the Week last week. He made history by being the first player to win the award three weeks in a row (the first three weeks of the season), and has been picked twice since. He leads the nation in field goals made (234) and double-doubles (22), is eighth nationally rebounding (11.6 rpg) and 12th in scoring (21.5 ppg). He's 28th in blocked shots (2.30) and 96th in minutes played (34.50). He leads the WAC in all six categories as well.
 
Siakam was named one of the 10 watch list finalists for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award selected by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The final five will be announced in March.
 
Siakam is also 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 not recorded a double-double in five games this season: the two games against New Mexico (23 points and eight rebounds on Nov. 15, and 21 points and four boards on Dec. 16), at CSU Bakersfield (21 points, nine rebounds) on Jan. 23, against Northern New Mexico (eight points, six rebounds) on Feb. 8 (playing only 17 minutes) and at Chicago State (24 points, eight rebounds). He had a 10-game double-double streak this season.
 
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.
 
Junior Ian Baker was named the WAC Player of the Week on Jan. 25. Baker's buzzer-beating 3-pointer downed CSU Bakersfield 68-67 in double OT on Jan. 23. 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 is second in the WAC in free throw percentage (.853, 64-of-75), is sixth in 3-point field goals (2.22 pg), seventh in scoring (14.1 ppg) and seventh in assists (3.70 apg).
 
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 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.
 
STREAK ENDS: The Aggies had their nine-game win streak come to an end on Monday night with the loss to Wichita State. The streak marked the 17th time NM State posted a win streak of nine or better. It was the third time that the Aggies have accomplished the feat in the Marvin Menzies era (13 in 2015, 12 in 2013 and nine in 2016).
 
TOP 25 AGGIES: NM State moved up two spots to No. 23 in the CollegeInsiders.com Mid-Major Top 25. The Aggies were No. 25 last week. The Aggies have been receiving votes in the poll the last few weeks after starting their WAC schedule.
 
STRONG ON DEFENSE: New Mexico State is among the top 30 in the nation in scoring defense. The Aggies are allowing 64.8 points a game, ranked 30th nationally and second in the WAC. NM State is 29th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.396). One reason is because of the Aggie rebounding, where NM State is fifth in rebound margin (+10.8) and is 13th in defensive rebounds per game (29.26). The Aggies are fifth nationally in personal fouls per contest, committing just 15.5 per game.
 
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 193-109, 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's now eighth in all-time wins in the WAC matching Gary Colson at UNM and Fresno State (1980-94) with 193. He's eighth on the win list for WAC only games with 99 and needs two more WAC wins to tie Ned Wulk of Arizona State (1962-78) in seventh with 101. He is third in WAC only winning percentage at .728 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: It's been a week of history making for Aggie sophomore Pascal Siakam. Last Saturday he became the first sophomore in Aggie history to score 1,000 points at NM State. He's the 33rd player to join the 1,000-Point Club and just the seventh to do so during his first two years as an Aggie. It's also the 17th time an Aggie has scored 1,000 points in a two-year period. He now has 1,017 points and is 32nd on the career scoring list. He was named the WAC Men's Player of the Week on Feb. 8 for an unprecedented fifth time after another outstanding week against Grand Canyon and Utah Valley. He averaged 22.0 points on 62 percent shooting with 13.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals for the week. The 6-9 forward from Douala, Cameroon, scored 17 points and with 16 rebounds against Grand Canyon then added 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds with two blocks and four assists against Utah Valley. 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.  He then followed with his fourth 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 is one of the last 10 on the watch list for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award and is one of 31 players named to the midseason watch list for the Lou Henson Award recognizing the top mid-major player of the year. Siakam was strong Monday against Wichita State, leading all scorers and rebounders with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his for his 22nd double-double of the season and 29th of his career. He also had three blocked shots. Selected the WAC Preseason Player of the Year by the media, Siakam leads the nation in field goals made (234) and double-doubles (22), is eighth in rebounding (11.6 rpg), 12th in scoring (21.5 ppg), 28th in blocked shots (2.30) and 96th in minutes played (34.52), leading the WAC in all. He is the leading scorer of the 24 NCAA Division I players averaging a double-double (as of Wednesday) by 2.1 points a game. Siakam also has three of the top four scoring games in the WAC this year. His 10-game double-double streak was snapped with 21 points and nine boards at CSU Bakersfield. He notched a career-high six assists at UC Irvine. 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. He has eight games of 25 or more points this season and six games of 15 or more rebounds. Siakam has already joined Aggie single season top 10 lists, ranking third in blocked shots (62), fourth in field goals made (234), eighth in rebounds (313). If his averages hold, he will rank in the top seven in a single season in scoring and rebounding. 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 61 games, he has 1017 career points and 575 career rebounds. He also has 123 career blocked shots to rank sixth on the Aggie career list. He needs one to tie and two to pass Slab Jones (1976-80) in fifth with 124.
 
ICE, ICE BAKER: Junior Ian Baker more than just the floor general for the Aggies. Baker is averaging 14.1 points a contest, second on the team and seventh in the WAC. He is second in the WAC in free throw shooting, hitting 85.3 percent from the line (64-of-75). He missed his first free throw against Grand Canyon to break his streak of 13 straight free throws, but has still made 27 of his last 30 attempts from the line dating back to the Dec. 21 vs. Oral Roberts. He's fifth 3-point percentage (.397, 60-of-151), fifth in the league in 3-pointers per game (2.22) and and seventh in assists (3.70). He collected the third game-winning shot in his career on his way to being named the WAC Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 24. 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 that 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. 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. Baker also popped for 19 points in consecutive games against New Mexico and Tennessee Tech. Baker is seventh on the NM State career 3-point field goal chart with 128 treys, passing Elijah Ingram (2005-07) with 127 and Brad Bestor (1998-00) with 124. He's hit 128-of-308 3-pointers for a 41.6 percentage that currently ranks fourth on the career 3-point percentage chart. He also has dished 214 career assists. 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 quietly moved his game up the ladder for the Aggies. The 6-10, 225 pound forward is averaging 7.5 points and 4.0 rebounds a game, while dishing out 1.4 assists. Wilkins has taken over the team lead in field goal percentage, currently ranking second in the WAC at 57.4 percent (74-of-129). He also has 11 blocked shots on the season (0.48 bpg). Wilkins 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 since had 12 in the second Grand Canyon game and another dozen against Northern New Mexico to go with his 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 moved into the starting lineup for 21 of his 23 games. Wilkins played in all 34 games last season, starting 10 as a redshirt freshman.
 
A SHINY PENNIE: Sophomore Jalyn Pennie set a new career-high in scoring with his 20 points against UT Rio Grande Valley. The 6-7, 180 pound guard/forward from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, hit 9-of-14 shots, while pulling down four rebounds and dishing three assists. He tallied 16 points in the second Utah Valley game, going 7-of-9 from the floor (2-of-3 from 3). He had one of his best all-around games at UC Irvine where he hit 4-of-9 3-pointers against the Anteaters, scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds with an assist. It nearly mirrored his game at UTEP when he collected 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 18 games, Pennie is averaging 6.5 points with 4.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and is just below the top 10 in the WAC with 14 blocked shots (0.52 bpg).
 
TALENTED TAYLOR: Sophomore Matt Taylor didn't let a busted nose stop him against UT Rio Grande Valley. The 6-5 guard from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, scored a career-high 12 points in the win. In his last outing at Chicago State, he only scored three points, but dished out seven assists. Taylor is averaging 5.5 points a contest, with 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for the Aggies. He's also got 15 blocks on the season, now just outside the WAC Top 10 averaging 0.56 per game. Taylor scored 11 points against Chicago State in Las Cruces to go with eight rebounds. He scored nine points at UTEP and collected a career-high eight assists in El Paso on Dec. 19. He also scored nine against the Miners when he pulled down a career-high nine rebounds on Dec. 2. He also posted nine boards at Grand Canyon and scored nine points again in the second matchup with Utah Valley. In his first starting season, he is one of three Aggies who have started all 27 games.
 
THAT'S TANVEER: Sophomore Tanveer Bhullar has been counted on to provide steady minutes for the Aggies, but had one of his most productive contests at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho against Northern New Mexico. The 7-3 center from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high six rebounds in his 18 minutes of playing time. That was his second highest scoring game behind his first career double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds at Utah Valley. Bhullar just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds against New Mexico in the second game of the year. The younger brother of Aggie standout Sim Bhullar, Tanveer is averaging
 
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 120-48 (.714).
 
LOOKING BACK: The New Mexico State Aggies hung tough with the Wichita State Shockers in the first 12 minutes of the game last Monday, but a nearly eight minute scoring drought during a 14-0 run by the Shockers spelled doom as Wichita State went on to a 71-41 win at Koch Arena.
 
Pascal Siakam chalked up his NCAA leading 22nd double-double for the Aggies as he led all scorers and rebounders with 17 points and 10 boards to go with three blocked shots. He was the only Aggie in double figures, with Johnathon Wilkins and Matt Taylor each with six points.
 
The Aggies shot 38.5 percent from the floor as the Shockers connected on 45.8 percent from the field. NM State outrebounded Wichita State 35-33 and tallied seven team blocks.
 
ABOUT THE ROADRUNNERS: CSU Bakersfield is 18-7 overall on the season, 8-2 in WAC play and tied with Grand Canyon for second in the WAC, after crushing Utah Valley 91-69 on Saturday. The 'Runners are led by center Aly Ahmed (6-9, Sr., Alexandria, Egypt) with 14.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. Forward Kevin Mays (6-4, Sr., Queens, N.Y.) averages 12.4 points and leads the team with 7.2 boards. Guard Dedrick Basile (5-10, Jr., Houston, Texas) averages 12.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and a WAC leading 1.9 steals an outing. Guard Damiyne Durham (6-4, Fr., Oakwood, Texas) adds 11.8 points, 3.2 boards and a WAC leading 2.8 3-pointers a contest. CSUB is scoring 73.4 points a game, and allowing 64.4 per contest.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Aggies wrap up the home portion of the regular season as they host Seattle U on Hall of Fame Night at the Pan American Center.
 
The Redhawks are 12-12 on the season, 6-2 and in fourth in WAC play, after losing to Grand Canyon 71-60 last Friday at KeyArena. SU travels to UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday night before visiting Las Cruces. The Redhawks are led by guard Brendan Westendorf (6-5, Jr., Kent, Wash.) with 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. Guard Manroop Clair (6-2, Jr., Vancouver, B.C., Canada) adds 10.1 points, 1.8 boards and 2.7 3-pointers a contest (second in the WAC). Center Jack Crook (6-11, Sr., Manchester, England) averages 9.6 points, 5.8 boards and 0.5 blocks, while forward William Powell (6-6, Jr., Huntsville, Ala.) averages 8.8 points and leads the team with 6.2 rebounds with 2.7 assists an outing. Seattle U is scoring 65.5 points a game, and allowing 65.9 per contest.