LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The 12th-seeded New Mexico State men's basketball team heads off to San Diego, Calif., for its first-round match-up against the fifth-seeded Clemson Tigers this Friday, March 16, inside Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl. First-year head coach Chris Jans leads an Aggie team that will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in seven years.
 
Carter Blackburn will have the call alongside Debbie Antonelli while John Schriffen serves as the sideline reporter on truTV at 7:57 p.m. (MT) as the Aggies and Tigers duke it out for the first time in program history.
 
WHERE TO WATCH
DirecTV: 246 | DISH: 242 | Verizon FiOS: 683 | ATT U-verse: 164 | Xfinity: 1430
Channel Finder: Area code search
 
Fans can also listen in on their phone or tablet for free via the NCAA March Madness Live app or on Tune-In by searching Westwood One Sports and then select NCAA March Madness.
 
GET CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the NM State men's basketball team all season on Twitter and Instagram by following @NMStateMBB and on Facebook at FB.com/NMStateMBB.
 
LISTEN UP!
Aggie fans that can't make it to San Diego for the first and second-round action can catch the games by listening to NM State Athletics/US Bank Hall of Famer Jack Nixon on 99.5 Zia Country and affiliate stations on the Aggie Sports Network listed below.
 
Alamogordo                      103.7 FM KNMZ
Albuquerque                     1150 AM KNMM
Carlsbad                           1240 AM KAMQ
El Paso                             1380 AM KHEY
Gallup                               1230 AM, 94.9 FM KYVA
Las Vegas                         107.1 FM KMDS
 
In addition, Westwood One will also broadcast of every game at every site – including San Diego. Fans can also listen in on Sirius Ch. 145 and XM Ch. 203. There are also two online options for fans to listen to John Sadak (Play-by-Play) and former head coach Mike Montgomery (Analyst) by going to www.ncaa.com/marchmadnesslive or www.westwoodonesports.com/sandiego for every game in San Diego in its entirety.
 
DANCING TICKETS FOR SAN DIEGO
Aggie fans interested in attending New Mexico State's NCAA Tournament first-round game against No. 5 Clemson can purchase tickets by visiting the Pan American Center ticket office or via phone at 575-646-1420. Tickets are $100 each with a $10 handling fee per order or until the NM State ticket allotment is sold out. Should the allotment be sold out, fans can purchase tickets by contact Viejas Arena directly at (619) 594-7315 or online by clicking here. Fans can also purchase tickets through the NCAA Ticket Exchange program by clicking here.
 
AGGIES IN NCAA HISTORY
Friday's showdown against the fifth-seeded Clemson Tigers will be New Mexico State's 21st all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies are 7-22 all-time at the Big Dance with all seven of their wins coming from 1968-70. The last NM State win in the tournament came against St. Bonaventure in the NCAA Consolation game, 79-73, during its Final Four run in 1969-70.
 
*Note: NM State had to vacate wins from 1991-94, including a 3-3 mark in the NCAA Tournament during those years. If counted, it would NM State's 24th NCAA Tournament appearance with a 10-25 all-time record with its last tournament victory coming against Nebraska (97-79) in 1993.
 
NM State has now made an NCAA Tournament appearance in seven of the last nine years. This will be New Mexico State's first time playing an NCAA Tournament game in San Diego.
 
In the last 10 losses for NM State in the Big Dance, two have come by single digits. Those two single-digit losses came against No. 13 San Diego State (73-69 OT) in 2014 and No. 12 Michigan State in 2010, 70-67.
 
AGAINST ALL ODDS
Heading into Friday's contest, the 12th-seed has gone 74-155 all-time since 1979 and have won at least one tournament in 15 of the last 17 years. When looking at the opening game of the tournament, 12-seeds are 38-74 all-time while three of the last six 12/5 upsets have come in overtime.
 
Heading into this year's tournament, here's a list of 12-seeds that got the upper-hand against their opponents…
 
2017: Middle Tennessee > Minnesota 81-72
2016: UALR > Purdue 85-83 (OT2)
2016: Yale > Baylor 79-75
2015: None
2014: Harvard > Cincinnati 61-57
2014: North Dakota State > Oklahoma 80-75 (OT)
2014: Stephen F. Austin > VCU 77-75 (OT)
 
Technically speaking, NM State is 2-2 all-time when playing as the 12-seed. However, three of those four games occurred during the 1991-92 season that was vacated by the NCAA. Thus, leaving NM State 0-1 as the 12-seed back in 2010 against Michigan State – a 70-67 affair in favor of the Spartans in Spokane, Wash., thanks to a lane violation down the stretch that Aggie fans still remember negatively.
 
WACTION IN THE BIG DANCE
With the current makeup of the Western Athletic Conference, only three different teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in NM State (24), Seattle U (11) and CSU Bakersfield (2016) while the Aggies and 'Runners are the only teams to have advanced to the tournament as a member of the WAC.
 
When the Aggies take the court on Friday, it'll be the 93rd time a WAC team has played in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The WAC is 20-39 all-time in the tournament. Here's how WAC teams have been seeded the last 10 years…
 
2018: NM State – 12 seed
2017: NM State – 14 seed
2016: CSU Bakersfield – 15 seed
2015: NM State - 15 seed
2014: NM State - 13 seed
2013: NM State - 13 seed
2012: NM State - 13 seed
2011: Utah State - 12 seed
2010: NM State - 12 seed | Utah State (at-large) – 12 seed
2009: Utah State - 11 seed
 
EYE OF THE TIGER
Heading to this weekend's first-round game, Clemson is 23-9 overall and finished in a tie for third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an 11-7 mark along with Miami, NC State and North Carolina. The 11 wins in ACC action was the most in program history and tied the program record for wins in any conference (SEC, 1951-52). The Tigers earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, their first since 2011, after falling in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament to top-ranked Virginia 64-58.
 
In its history, Clemson is 9-11 all-time in the Big Dance while its 12 tournament appearances are third-fewest among ACC programs. This is the second NCAA Tournament berth for the Tigers under eighth-year head coach Brad Brownell. The other appearance came in his first-season at the helm in 2011.
 
All-ACC second-teamer Marcquise Reed leads the fifth-seeded Tigers with 15.9 points per game after starting in all 32 games this season. The 6-3 guard was named to the USBWA All-District team and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Second-Team. Reed is also second on the team with 65 made three-balls while dishing out a team-high 110 assists to go with his 54 steals. The redshirt junior was critical to Clemson's defensive success that led to 11-straight wins.
 
With big man Donte Grantham out for the season 19 games into the season, Gabe DeVoe is second on the squad with 13.2 points per game. Like Reed, DeVoe earned all-conference accolades as well, taking home All-ACC Honorable Mention while big man Elijah Thomas was named to the All-ACC Defensive Team.
 
DeVoe is the best's best 3-point shooter, knocking down 75 from downtown while also pulling down 4.7 rebounds per game with 63 assists on the year. Standing at 6-9, 237 pounds, Thomas owns a team-high 7.9 rebounding average. Another big threat with the ball for the Tigers is Shelton Mitchell, who has dished out 106 dimes this year with a .365 shooting clip from beyond the arc.  
 
Outside of those four, the next closest player is Aamir Simms – who is averaging just 3.9 points.
 
FAMILY AFFAIR
When New Mexico State clinched the WAC Tournament title on Saturday, March 10, Shunn Buchanan (WAC Tournament Champion) joined his brother Leroy "Shaq" Buchanan (OVC Tournament Champion) as the only other set of brothers play in the NCAA Tournament. Because the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament was the week before the WAC's, their parents were able to watch both sons punch their ticket to the Big Dance. As luck would have it, both New Mexico State and Murray State will be playing in the San Diego pod for the first and second round of the tournament – both as 12-seeds.
 
The other brother duo playing in the NCAA Tournament is College of Charleston's Osinachi Smart (CAA Tournament Champions) and Buffalo's Ikenna Smart (MAC Tournament Champions).
 
WAC TITLE REWIND
Four days after being named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, New Mexico State senior Jemerrio Jones led the Aggies through three games in three days to capture its sixth WAC Tournament title in seven years en route to being named the tournament MVP. Jones was also the sixth Aggie to earn tournament MVP during that same span.
 
The 6-5 forward averaged 11.7 points and 18.7 rebounds during tournament play while also breaking the tournament's rebounding record with 56 boards in three games. The previous record of 53 was held by Jason Ellis of Boise State in 2005. Zach Lofton joined Jones on the all-tournament team after leading the offensive charge for New Mexico State with 24.3 points per game and 4.7 boards per game while shooting 42.9-percent from deep.
 
AJ Harris had a breakout weekend, averaging 14.0 points – including a 20-point performance in the championship game against Grand Canyon. The Dayton, Ohio, native also shot a .500 clip during the tournament. Keyon Jones rounded out the offensive performers for NM State, averaging 10 points over the tournament – including a 9-for-15 effort from 3-point range.
 
At weekend's end, NM State outscored their opponents by 15.3 points while shooting a .444 clip with a 12.7 rebounding advantage against opponents.
 
ATHLETIC PROWESS
Heading into NCAA Tournament play, New Mexico State is one of 13 schools with 28 wins this season, joining Virginia, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Villanova, Michigan State, Loyola Chicago, Saint Mary's, Xavier, Purdue, Stephen F. Austin, South Dakota State and Michigan.
 
Of those 13 teams, ONLY New Mexico State (Arizona Bowl), Michigan State (Holiday) and Purdue (Foster Farms Bowl) had their football program win a bowl game while their men's basketball team posting 28 wins on the season.
 
UP NEXT
Should the Aggies meet the expectations of multiple pundits and advance to the second round, New Mexico State will play the winner between the fourth-seeded Auburn Tigers and the 13th-seeded Cougars from the College of Charleston on Sunday, March 18. Tip-off time and network are to be determined.