EDINBURG, Texas – The New Mexico State Aggies wrapped up the regular season in style on Saturday night, never trailing in claiming an 83-44 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley.
 
The Aggies (22-9, 13-1) wrapped up the season as the Western Athletic Conference champion with just one conference loss for the second consecutive season. UTRGV (8-21, 4-10) finished tied for sixth in the WAC.
 
"We were able to make shots and run the offense at a very high level tonight," said NM State head coach Marvin Menzies. "But as well as we played on offense, it was probably better on defense. I thought the guys were really locked in on a game that we had potential concerns for a let down. This was a great win."
 
The Aggies got out to an 8-2 lead to start the game before the Vaqueros came back to pull within a point at 9-8 with 11:05 to play in the first half.
 
But that was when the Aggies kicked it into high gear. NM State hit a 9-0 run over the next two-and-a half minutes before trading baskets with UTRGV. The Aggies went the final 7:18 of the half on a 20-5 run and never trailed by less than 20 after that.
 
NM State posted a 14-2 start of the second half and dominated the rest of the game.
 
"I was really impressed with our mental approach," said Menzies. "The result was actually a bit of a surprise. I wanted us to approach this game the right way. We did that and got the result that we wanted and in a grand way."
 
Sophomore Pascal Siakam led all scorers and rebounders as he chalked up his 25th double-double of the season. The 6-9 forward from Douala, Cameroon, scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as he shot 10-of-17 from the floor and hit 4-of-5 free throws.
 
Junior Ian Baker connected on 5-of-7 shots from the floor, including 1-of-2 from the 3-point arc, to collect 11 points with five boards and six assists. Sophomore Tanveer Bhullar added 10 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Braxton Huggins just missed a double-double with nine points and a career-high nine rebounds.
 
All 11 Aggies who traveled scored in the game.
 
UT Rio Grande Valley were paced by Shaquille Hines with 12 points and Dan Kimasa with 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
NM State is the top seed in the 2016 WAC Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas this coming March 10-12. The Aggies earned a quarterfinal bye and will play in the WAC semifinal on Friday at 7 p.m. Mountain Time.