LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State men's basketball team heads to #WACvegas and looks to defend its Western Athletic Conference Tournament title this week. First up for the Aggies will be the Cougars of Chicago State on Thursday, March 14, at 1 p.m. (MT) inside Orleans Arena.
 
Mychal Clanton will have the call in the opening game of the men's tournament alongside Joan Bonvicini with Michael Potter on the sidelines for the ESPN+ broadcast. For a complete look at the WAC Tournament, visit the Tournament Central Page by clicking here.
 
WHERE TO WATCH
Aggie fans can catch the UMKC game on ESPN+ with a paid subscription ($4.99/month) or start a 7-day FREE trial. With a paid or trial subscription, fans can watch it online or through any mobile device, tablet or through a third-party unit such as Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Playstation 4, Xbox One etc.
 
GET CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the NM State men's basketball team all season long on Twitter and Instagram by following @NMStateMBB and on Facebook at FB.com/NMStateMBB.
 
LISTEN UP!
Aggie fans that can't make it to Thursday's WAC Tournament opener can catch the game 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 or via TuneIn.
 

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

 
WAC AWARDS SZN
Head coach Chris Jans was named the Don Haskins Coach of the Year for the second-straight season after leading the Aggies to their second-consecutive regular-season title in as many years after going 27-4 overall and 15-1 in league play.
 
Jans joins a shortlist of WAC head coaches that have won the Don Haskins Coach of the Year honor in back-to-back seasons that include Jim Brandenburg (Wyoming, 1980-82), Mark Fox (Nevada, 2004-07), Stew Morrill (Utah State (2008-11) and Rod Barnes (CSUB, 2015-17). Of that list, Jans and Fox are the only two coaches to win back-to-back coach of the year honors in their first two seasons at the helm.
 
Joining Jans on the award podium is Terrell Brown, who earned First-Team All-WAC honors and All-Newcomer Team accolades. The 6-1 guard led the Aggies with 12.9 points per game in conference play while knocking down 48.5-percent of his shots from 3-point range. Brown kicked off the first-half of league play with double-digit points in 7-of-8 games – including a 22 point performance in his first conference game at California Baptist – before finishing with 11 games with double-digit points.
 
Redshirt senior Eli Chuha notched Second-Team All-WAC honors after averaging 9.9 points and 7.1 rebounds with a deadly .632 shooting clip in league play. This is the second all-conference honor for Chuha after earning Second-Team All-WAC distinction his sophomore year. Chuha's final season has been highlighted with a game-winning lay-up at UT Rio Grande Valley, one of many this season for NM State. In addition, the Redlands, Calif., product also became the 35th Aggie to join the 1,000 points club against UTRGV at home on Feb. 23.
 
Last, but not least, is AJ Harris, who earned Second-Team All-WAC honors after averaging 9.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists this season. The Dayton, Ohio, product was named to the All-Defensive team as well. The Aggie floor general reached double-figures in half of the league games this season while shooting a .407 from the field and .404 clip from beyond the arc.
 
TITLETOWN USA
New Mexico State wrapped up its 10th WAC Tournament Championship appearance since joining the conference in the 2005-06 season with a 72-58 victory over Grand Canyon last March. The Aggies moved 8-2 when playing in tournament title games, losing only in 2008 and 2016. NM State also played in its seventh-straight championship game, it last missed out on the title match in 2011. Counting last season's championship game, NM State has played in the title match 10-of-13 years since joining the league. In addition, the WAC Tournament MVP has come from NM State eight of the last 13 seasons after Jemerrio Jones was crowned the tournament MVP in 2018.
WAC BLUE BLOODS
Since joining the Western Athletic Conference, New Mexico State has enjoyed great success, winning eight of the 13 conference tournaments it has played in – including four-straight from 2012-15.
 
The Aggies are 29-5 all-time at the WAC Tournament, giving them the most victories in conference tournament history and passed Battle of I-10 rival UTEP (27-15). Its .853 winning-percentage is the best amongst WAC Tournament teams with a winning record.
 
VIVA LAS VEGAS!
New Mexico State is now 19-3 all-time when playing at Orleans Arena after it went 1-1 during the championship games for the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic (Dec. 22-23) and 29-5 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 in 2016 to CSU Bakersfield in the championships game on a buzzer beater.
 
AGGIES VS COUGARS PART III
For the third time this season and third time in WAC Tournament history, New Mexico State and Chicago State will square off on the hardwood at Orleans Arena. The Aggies are 2-0 against the Cougars in the quarterfinal rounds the last two years.
 
NM State leads the all-time series 17-1 and 3-0 when playing on a neutral floor against Chicago State. The Aggies and Cougars have faced off in the first-round of action in the WAC Tournament, both coming in favor of NM State.
 
Heading into Thursday's game, Anthony Harris leads CSU with 13.8 points per game and 5.3 boards per game to go with a team-high 40 steals. Christian Jacob is second on the team, averaging 10.9 points with a team-high 5.7 rebounding average and .506 shooting clip. Rob Shaw rounds out the double-digit scorers for CSU with 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists average.

Travon Bell paces the team from 3-point range, knocking down 62 with a .356 clip while averaging just south of double-figures at 9.4 points per game. Cameron Bowls isn't too far off from Bell, checking in with 8.7 points per game to go with his 4.4 rebounds per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
NM State finished the regular-season with a bang last Saturday, March 9, when it hosted California Baptist. The Aggies jumped out to a 23-10 lead before CBU head coach Rick Croy was forced to call a timeout when Trevelin Queen threw down a jam on the inbounds play with 11:36 on the clock in the first half. The quick jumpstart for New Mexico State was highlighted by C.J. Bobbitt's 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
 
NM State's lead ballooned to 26 (48-22) by the break with Bobbitt and Queen combining for 27 of the 48 points while Eli Chuha chipped in with eight points and six boards on 3-of-4 shooting.
 
The Aggie lead hovered around the 20-point margin for almost the entire second-half before the Lancers crept within 75-63 by the time the buzzer sounded.
 
UP NEXT
Should the Aggies defeat Chicago State and advance to the semifinals, NM State will face the winner between fourth-seeded UT Rio Grande Valley and fifth-seeded CSU Bakersfield on Friday, March 15, at 7 p.m. (MT) on ESPN+.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
With a semifinal win, New Mexico State will advance to its 11th WAC Tournament Championship game appearance. The title game, should NM State make it will be played on Saturday, March 16, at 8 p.m. (MT) on ESPNU. Kanoa Leahey will have the call in the championship game once again while Adrian Branch serves as the analyst.