LAS VEGAS – The New Mexico State men's basketball team had to wait an extra five minutes, but it now knows that it'll square off against the No. 3-seed UMKC at 9:30 p.m. (MT) / 8:30 p.m. local time (PT) on Friday, March 10.
 
Mychal Clanton will have the call for the ESPN3 broadcast while Sed Bonner serves as the analyst for Friday's Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal match-up at Orleans Arena.
 
GET CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the NM State men's basketball team all season on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by following @AggieArmy.
 
LISTEN UP!
Aggie fans that can't make it to Las Vegas can listen to NM State Athletics/US Bank Hall of Famer Jack Nixon the entire tournament on 99.5 Zia Country and affiliate stations. Fans can also listen to the game live with their mobile or tablet device on the TuneIn app for free. The game will be available on following affiliate stations as well:
 
Alamogordo      103.7 FM KNMZ
Albuquerque     101.7 FM KQTM
Carlsbad           1240 AM KAMQ
Gallup              1230 AM, 94.9 FM KYVA
Las Vegas        107.1 FM KMDS
 
SQUARING UP AGAINST THE ROOS
Heading into Friday's contest against UMKC, New Mexico State has won eight-straight games – including a 1-0 mark in WAC Tournament play. The Aggies and 'Roos faced off in conference tournament play for the first time last season with NM State coming out on top 78-64.
 
Since the two teams last played in Las Cruces, UMKC has won 10 of its last 11 games, including Thursday night's overtime victory against UT Rio Grande Valley, 82-78. The 'Roos finished with a pair of players with double-doubles while Darnell Tillman pulled down 11 rebounds with zero points.
 
LaVell Boyd, who was recently named a First-Team All-WAC player, led UMKC with 22 points and seven rebounds. Kyle Steward was not far behind and filled the stat sheet with 19 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. Thursday's double-double was just the third one on the year for Steward. Meanwhile, Broderick Newbill posted a double-double for himself on the evening, scoring 10 points while pulling down 10 boards – for his first of the year.
 
The last time NM State and UMKC squared up, Ian Baker dropped 20 points while Jemerrio Jones had 15 points with 14 rebounds in a game where the Aggies led wire-to-wire, 94-71. Johnathon Wilkins also had one of his best offensive nights against the 'Roos, pouring in 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting – two of which came from beyond the arc.
 
VIVA LAS VEGAS!
After Thursday night's win, New Mexico State is now 13-2 all-time when playing at Orleans Arena and 24-5 all-time in the WAC Tournament – including an 11-0 stretch where the aggies won four-straight WAC Tournament titles (2012-15). The two losses for NM State in Las Vegas came in the first year the tournament was moved to Sin City when it lost to the second-seeded Broncos of Boise State in the semifinals while playing as the No. 3 seed. NM State's other loss came last season to CSU Bakersfield in the championships game on a buzzer beater.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The aggies overcame a tough opening half from the floor and waltzed away with a 67-53 win over Chicago State in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals in Orleans Arena.
 
Reigning WAC Player of the Year, Ian Baker, led the way for NM State with 15 points and five assists while Braxton Huggins chipped in with 14 points. Eli Chuha added 12 points of his own as he collected his 14th double-double of the year with 11 boards as well.
 
The Aggies saw themselves down early in the game on Thursday, but the bright spot was that it was due to NM State not being able to find the bottom of the basket rather than Chicago State's defense. With New Mexico State having a hard time shooting from the floor, the Cougars were able to take a 12-7 advantage heading into the 11:46 media timeout.
 
New Mexico State started to find its rhythm from that point on and began chipping away at the deficit. The Aggies took their first lead of the game, 24-23, at the 3:13 mark in the first half when Baker found Jonathon Wilkins on an out of bounds play in the low block. NM State would not relinquish its lead from that point on as it took a 28-25 lead into the break.
 
After four-straight points from Chuha, a 3-pointer from Chancellor Ellis made it a 20-4 run for NM State that started with 4:40 left in the first half.

Chicago State tried to chip away at the NM State lead and got as close as 42-35 with 10:04 left on the clock. Wilkins hit both free throws out of the under eight media timeout to give the Aggies a double-digit lead that it held the remainder of the game.
 
UP NEXT
Should the Aggies beat No. 3 UMKC Friday night, they will face the winner between the top-seeded 'Runners from CSU Bakersfield and the fourth-seeded Wolverines from Utah Valley at 9 p.m. (MT) / 8 p.m. local (PT). Eric Rothman will have the call for the championship game while former Wright State head coach and ESPN's national director of recruiting Paul Biancardi serves as the analyst on the ESPNU broadcast.