LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The defending undisputed Western Athletic Conference Champion and four-consecutive WAC Tournament Champion NM State Aggies (15-8, 7-1) put their lead in the WAC on the line Saturday at 7 p.m. as they host Utah Valley (10-13, 4-4) at the Pan American Center. The Aggies are coming off Thursday's 70-50 triumph over Grand Canyon, while UVU won at UT Rio Grande Valley 88-77.
 
SERIES RECORD: This is the sixth meeting between the Aggies and the Wolverines, with NM State leading the series 4-1. The Aggies won the last three meetings with a 78-66 win in Orem on Jan. 7 to go win wins in both meetings last season as NM State grabbed a 51-38 victory at the UCCU Center on Feb. 19, 2015 and a 69-44 win on Jan. 24, 2015 in Las Cruces. The teams first met on Feb. 1, 2014, when NM State posted an 72-49 win at the Pan Am Center. UVU answered on Feb. 27, 2014 with a 66-61 win in Orem.
 
MEDIA COVERAGE: Thursday'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 447/9517), Fox Sports Southwest Plus (DirecTV 676-2, Dish 447/9517), Fox College Sports, 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 six straight with the 70-50 win over Grand Canyon. The Aggies have also won six straight WAC games after a 14-game winning streak against WAC opponents was snapped with a loss 79-75 loss at Grand Canyon in January. The streak dated back to an 85-63 win over GCU on Jan. 22, 2015. NM State has won 27 of its last 29 games against WAC opponents.
 
NM State is riding a six-game win streak at home with the 70-50 win over GCU 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 55-6 record at the Pan Am (.902).
 
In the last 68 contests played by NM State at the Pan Am, the Aggies are 62-6 (.912).
 
NM State has won 32 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 third longest conference home win streak in the nation (Belmont 35, Stephen F. Austin 34.)
 
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.
 
Aggie sophomore Pascal Siakam was Thursday 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 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 (204) and double-doubles (20), is sixth nationally rebounding (12.1 rpg) and 13th in scoring (22.0 ppg). He's 31st in blocked shots (2.17) and 60th in minutes played (35.39). He leads the WAC in all six categories as well.
 
• Siakam had his 10-game double-double streak snapped at CSU Bakersfield, but picked back up against UTRGV and GCU. He has not recorded a double-double in only 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.
 
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's second in the WAC and is 36th nationally in free throw percentage (.863, 63-of-73), is fourth in scoring (14.7 ppg), sixth in 3-point field goals (2.26 pg) and seventh in assists (3.96 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.
 
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 190-108, 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 97 passing Gary Colson at UNM and Fresno State (1980-94) with 93. He is third in WAC only winning percentage at .724 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 continues making a national name for himself. He was selected to 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. Selected the WAC Preseason Player of the Year by the media, Siakam leads the nation in field goals made (197) and double-doubles (19), is sixth in rebounding (11.9 rpg), 13th in scoring (22.2 ppg), 32nd in blocked shots (2.18) and 58th in minutes played (35.32), leading the WAC in all. He is the leading scorer of the 23 NCAA Division I players averaging a double-double (as of Friday) by 2.4 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 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds with two blocks and three assists against Grand Canyon for his 20th of the season and 27th of his career. 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. 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 57 games, he has 941 career points and 540 career rebounds. He also has 111 career blocked shots to rank seventh on the Aggie career list. He needs five to reach Charles Goza (1995-99) in sixth with 116.
 
ICE, ICE BAKER: Junior Ian Baker more than just the floor general for the Aggies. Baker is averaging 14.7 points a contest, second on the team and fourth in the WAC. He is second in the WAC and is 28th nationally in free throw shooting, hitting 86.3 percent from the line (63-of-73). He missed his first free throw Thursday vs. Grand Canyon to break his streak of 13 straight free throws, but has still made 26 of his last 28 attempts from the line dating back to the Dec. 21 vs. Oral Roberts. He's sixth in the league in 3-pointers per game (2.26), seventh in assists (3.96) and seventh in 3-point percentage (.382, 52-of-136). 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 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. Baker is already ninth on the NM State career 3-point field goal chart with 120, passing Sam Crawford (1991-93) and Allen Haynes (2002-05) with 117. He's hit 120-of-293 3-pointers with his 41.0 percentage currently tied for fourth on the career 3-point percentage chart. He also has dished 205 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 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 since had 12 in the second Grand Canyon game 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 has moved into the starting lineup and is averaging 7.5 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 set a new career-high in scoring with his 20 points against UT Rio Grande Valley. The 6-7, 180 pound forward from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, hit 9-of-14 shots, while pulling down four rebounds and dishing three assists. 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 14 games, Pennie is averaging 6.4 points with 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and is eighth in the WAC with 0.61 blocked shots.
 
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. Taylor is averaging 5.5 points a contest, with 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for NM State. He's also got 14 blocks on the season, and is eighth in the WAC averaging 0.61 per game. Taylor scored 11 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, and nine against the Miners when he pulled down a career-high nine rebounds on Dec. 2. He also posted nine boards at Grand Canyon. In his first starting season, he is one of three Aggies who have started all 22 games.
 
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 118-48 (.711).
 
 
LOOKING BACK: The New Mexico State Aggies took over sole possession of first place in the WAC with a decisive 70-50 victory over Grand Canyon at the Pan American Center.
 
Pascal Siakam led the Aggies with his NCAA leading 20th double-double as he collected a game-high 17 points with 16 rebounds along with three assists and two blocks. Ian Baker tallied 13 points with seven boards and four assists, while Johnathon Wilkins popped for 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting on the night.
 
The Aggies shot 54.0 percent from the floor and held the best shooting team in the WAC to just 29.8 percent from the field. NM State dominated the glass 44-26 as well.
 
ABOUT THE WOLVERINES: Utah Valley is 10-13 on the season, 4-4 in the WAC, thanks to an 88-77 win at UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday. The Wolverines of first year head coach Mark Pope are led by guard Jaden Jackson (6-2, Sr., Salt Lake City, Utah) with 14.7 points a game to go with 2.7 boards and 2.2 3-pointers a contest. Forward Konner Frey (6-6, Jr., Bountiful, Utah) averages 14.7 points and leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game. Guard Marcel Davis (6-2, Sr., American Fork, Utah) adds 13.8 points, 5.5 boards and dishes 4.7 assists an outing. UVU is scoring 76.4 points a game, and allowing 77.9 per contest.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Aggies step out of conference play to host a neutral site game with Northern New Mexico at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho.
 
The Eagles are 11-12 on the season, 2-3 in the Association of Independent Institutions, after winning at Johnson & Wales (Colo.) 81-78 last Saturday night. NNMC and J&W play games on Friday and Saturday in Espanola before going to Rio Rancho to close the regular season on Monday. The Eagles are led by guard Marcus Ellis (6-2, Fr., Medford, Ore.) with 11.7 points to go with 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Center Patrick Bendegue (6-7, Sr., Yaounde, Cameroon) adds 11.3 points, leads the team with 7.8 rebounds and shoots 56.4 percent from the floor. Guard Thomas Bullock (5-9, Fr., Salt Lake City, Utah) averages 9.8 points, 3.7 boards and dishes 1.4 assists an outing, while guard Rodney Coles (5-7, Sr., Espanola, N.M.) adds 9.6 points and 2.9 assists while hitting 2.3 3-pointers on 45.2 percent shooting from the arc. NNMC is scoring 83.0 points a game, and allowing 78.0 per contest.