OPENING TIPS
• Surprised? You shouldn't be. Third-seeded NM State will battle top-seeded and WAC regular season co-champion Grand Canyon for the right to represent the WAC in the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies and Lopes will duke it out in the WAC Tournament title game for the third time in as many tournaments Saturday night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. 
• ESPNU and the ESPN app will carry the action with Roxy Bernstein and Adrian Branch handling all play-by-play and analysis responsibilities. 
• Over the airwaves, US Bank/NM State Athletics Hall of Famer Jack Nixon will be on hand inside the Orleans Arena to narrate the action. Locally, Nixon's call can be heard on Zia Country 99.5 FM in Las Cruces.
• Listeners outside of the Las Cruces area can access Nixon's call on the Aggie Sports Network's affiliate stations which include 101.7 FM KQTM (Albuquerque), 103.5 FM KNMZ (Alamogordo), 1240 AM KAMQ (Carlsbad), 1380 AM KHEY (El Paso), 1230 AM, 94.9 FM KYVA (Gallup) and 107.1 FM KMDS (Las Vegas). Fans not in any of those areas can also find his broadcast via the TuneIn app which is available nationwide.

LAST TIME OUT | WAC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS | #3 NM STATE 78, #2 UTAH VALLEY 62
• The Donald Tillman Basketball Showcase was not a one-night-only show in Sin City as the forward out of Detroit dropped in a season-high 23 points to help the Aggies take down second-seeded Utah Valley 78-62.
• Facing off against the league's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the Wolverines' Fardaws Aimaq, all the Aggies did was hold him scoreless in 29 minutes of action.
• A 15-2 run through the game's first 7:10 helped the Aggies take control early. All of the team's points through that surge came off the hands of Tillman and Jabari Rice who finished with 13 on a 4-of-5 effort from the field.
• Trey Woodbury did all he could to extend Utah Valley's season, putting in a game-high 34 points for the WAC's regular season co-champions. Fifteen of his 34 came at the foul line, but the usually sharp-shooting guard went just 3-of-11 from long range on the night.
• Johnny McCants led the way on defense against Aimaq and had another solid all-around outing at the Orleans. Las Cruces' favorite son contributed nine points and a team-high six rebounds in the Aggies' victory.
• A late first-half offensive lull by the Aggies was ended thanks to the play of Kalen Williams. The sophomore guard had all eight of his points though the final stages of the opening frame and hit a runner in the lane at the horn to give the Aggies a 32-23 lead at the break.
• With the win, NM State moved to 12-3 all-time in WAC Tournament semifinal bouts. The win also helped NM State move on to the WAC Tournament finals for the ninth-straight time.

LAST TIME OUT vs. GCU | NM State 53, at GCU 65 | Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021
• For the second-straight game redshirt junior Wilfried Likayi made sure the Aggies got off to a strong start by scoring his team's first seven points of the game, but NM State's early edge evaporated quickly and the Aggies dropped a 65-53 decision at Grand Canyon last Saturday night.
• The Lopes took the lead for good with 14:18 remaining in the opening frame and pushed their advantage to as many as 17 points before all was said and done in Phoenix.
• NM State used a barrage of three-pointers to cut its 17-point deficit down to six, 45-39, with 13:53 to go, but back-to-back buckets in the paint by the Lopes put NM State at a double-digit disadvantage once again.
• With the loss, NM State started 0-2 in WAC play for the first time since the 2012-13 season. That year, under the direction of head coach Marvin Menzies, the Aggies went on to win the WAC Tournament and moved on to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Aggies' back-to-back WAC setbacks last weekend marked the first time since the 2017-18 season that NM State has dropped consecutive conference matches. That year, Chris Jans' first in charge of the Aggies, NM State went on to win the WAC regular season title as well as the WAC Tournament.
• With their two losses to Grand Canyon, NM State was swept by a WAC opponent in regular season action for the first time since the 2011-12 season. That year, the Aggies lost twice to Nevada but recovered to win the WAC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
• NM State's 53 points against the Lopes last Saturday night represented its lowest point total in a WAC game since 2017. On February 9 of that year, the Aggies dropped a 72-53 decision at CSU Bakersfield with Paul Weir at the helm of the program.

LAST TIME OUT in the WAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME | NM State 89, GCU 57 | Saturday, March 16, 2019
• With just 40 minutes separating them from a third-straight NCAA Tournament bid, the Aggies turned to Trevelin Queen who exploded for a game and career-high 27 points as NM State hammered Grand Canyon, 89-57, in the 2019 WAC Tournament title bout.
• Queen came off the bench in that tilt as did Ivan Aurrecoechea who added 16 more on 7-of-9 shooting. The Aggies' reserves combined for 50 points in the victory - seven fewer than GCU's point total.
• The lone Aggie starter who generated 10 or more points was Clayton Henry who sprung for 14. Henry hit four of the Aggies' WAC Tournament record 17 three-pointers.
• Sparked on the glass by seven boards apiece from Aurrecoechea and Johnny McCants, NM State produced a 47-28 (+19) edge on the glass against their foes from Arizona.
• Though the final score wouldn't indicate it, it was GCU who came out on fire. The Lopes started the game on a 10-2 run through the first 5:04 but the Aggies outscored them 39-20 through the last 14:37 of the frame to take a double-digit lead at the half.
• Six of the Aggies' first baskets of the final 20 minutes came from beyond the arc, allowing the WAC Tournament's top seed to push its lead to 61-45 with 12:47 to go. NM State's lead got no lower the rest of the way.
• For his efforts, Queen took home the title of WAC Tournament MVP. Terrell Brown, who put in nine points, joined Queen on the WAC All-Tournament Team.
• NM State improved to 2-0 all-time aganist GCU in the WAC Tournament with the victory.

LAST TIME OUT vs. A #1 SEED IN THE WAC TOURNAMENT | NM State 70, CSU Bakersfield 60 | Saturday, March 11, 2017
• The dynamic duo of Ian Baker and Eli Chuha scored 31 of the Aggies' 70 points, NM State's offense came alive in the second half and the second-seeded Aggies captured the WAC Tournament title with a 70-60 victory over top-seeded CSU Bakersfield.
• It was a three-pointer by Chancellor Ellis - one of his two on the night - that handed the Aggies the lead for good in the second half.
• After shooting just 4-of-14 (28.6-percent) in the opening frame, NM State connected on 56-percent (14-of-25) of its shots in the deciding frame.
• The foul line played a huge part in the Aggies' win, too. NM State went 28-of-39 from there and got 40-percent of its point total from that distance.
• Thanks to his 15-point performance, Baker took home WAC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors while Chuha and Branxton Huggins joined him the WAC's All-Tournament Team.
• Chuha loomed large in the paint, generating a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double to help the Aggies win the day. It was Chuha who helped NM State finished with a 34-30 edge on the glass in the victory.
• Jemerrio Jones hopped off the bench and came up with eight points and nine rebounds for NM State as well.
• Dedrick Basile dropped in a game-high 17 points for the Roadrunners who were denied a chance at a second-straight NCAA Tournament bid thanks to the Aggies' victory.
• The win would also prove to be the last one at NM State for Aggie head coach Paul Weir who notably took the head coaching job at New Mexico following the conclusion of the Aggies' season.

SCOUTING GRAND CANYON | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
• Ready for the main event, the WAC's regular season co-champions are rollin' at the right time, too, led by the daunting Danish post man Asbjørn Mitgaard.
• The league's Newcomer of the Year, Mitgaard is averaging a double-double at 14.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Rarely missing from the field, God's Bear (no, really - that's what his first name means in his native tougue) has drained 71.4-percent (120-of-168) of his field goal tries.
• Mitgaard has been just what the doctor ordered not just for the Lopes as a team, but for senior Alessandro Lever. The stretch-four is pumping in points at a rate of 13.6 per game on shooting splits of .521/.419/.632. He tops the team's charts in both three-point field goal percentage and total three-pointers made (31, 1.4 per game).
• Manning the point for the Lopes is Jovan Blacksher Jr. One of four players who has started all 22 games for Grand Canyon, Blacksher comes in averaging 11.6 points and a team-best 5.5 assists per game.
• Outside of their big three, the Lopes got a big night from redshirt sophomore Gabe McGlothan in their WAC Tournament semifinal win over Seattle U. The forward came on strong with a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double in his team's victory.
• Defense has been a strong point for the Lopes, too, as they rank second nationally in opponent field goal percentage (37.7-percent). Grand Canyon also ranks among the top ten in the land in rebounding margin (fifth, +9.6) and scoring defense (ninth, 61.3 opponent points per game).

COMING UP NEXT
• The options are simple for the Aggies: win and they'll go to the NCAA Tournament. Lose and NM State's season is over. 

++NM State++