Gameday. The Aggies' hopes of winning a tournament game or two begin today at 11:10 a.m. PDT in San Jose. The Aggies take on the Billikens of Saint Louis, a team that many have selected as a darkhorse to reach the Final Four. The Aggies would like to have something to say about that as they look to pull off a 13-4 upset.

We had a chance to speak briefly with Coach Menzies yesterday after their open practice and he had this to say about the team's mindset, the coaching staff's preparedness after making a third trip to the tournament and also Tyrone Watson's health:

"I think they're comfortable, I think they're ready to play. You always want the best team to win and I think that's going to happen tomorrow, I think whoever the best team is is going to win. I think from our side we're ready to roll. Guys are comfortable, relaxed and prepared. It'll be fun.'

"I think so. I think every year you gain a little experience on how you want to handle the dynamics of the tournament and the pomp and circumstance that comes with the NCAA March Madness. You gain a little knowledge every time you take a trip and hopefully it aids you in being productive."

"He's getting close. The question is is his close better than Renaldo and Remi's good. It's all about the team and about having the most productive players on the floor based off of what we can get out of the guys that are on the floor."

There are a few keys to this game for the Aggies. Number one, take care of the basketball. The Aggies cannot afford to turn the ball over against a Billiken team that averages nearly eight steals per game. In the Billiken's wins they are forcing 15.5 turnovers per game and converting those into 18.8 points. That's just over 27 percent of their scoring. However, in their six losses they've only forced opponents into 12.3 turnovers per game and more importantly just 9.5 points off of those turnovers.

Second, the Aggies need to take care of the glass. The Aggies have an advantage on the boards. Saint Louis is not a great rebounding team averaging 29.6 rebounds per game with a rebounding percentage of just 49.7 percent while the Aggies average 35.1 rebounds per game with a rebounding percentage of 55.3 percent.

Third, the Aggies need to use their length and athleticism to bother the Saint Louis shooters and also disrupt their interior game with the presence of Sim Bhullar and Renaldo Dixon. The Aggies average 5.5 blocks per game and like every other team the Aggies have faced this season, their opponents have not seen a player like Sim Bhullar.

The Aggies' big three of Sim Bhullar, Daniel Mullings and Bandja Sy need to have a good game offensively with Bandja as the x-factor. If Sy scores between 15 and 20 points in the game we feel very strongly that the Aggies will be victorious.  Continue Reading This Post >>

It's championship game day as the New Mexico State men's basketball team looks to repeat as WAC tournament champions for the first time in school history and they aim to be the first repeat winners since Hawai'i won in 2001 and 2002.

The Aggies are also looking to reverse some older WAC Tournament history as they head into this 3 vs. 4 matchup tonight. Five times in WAC Tournament history the 3-seed has taken on the 4-seed in the WAC title game and just once has the 3-seed come out victorious. The Aggies are part of that history as they fell in 2008 as the three seed against four seed Boise State.

UT-Arlington provides an interesting challenge in that they thoroughly handled the Aggies in Arlington to open WAC play winning by 21 points in a game that was possibly the worst conference game the Aggies have played since the 2011 WAC semifinal loss against Boise State. They also played the Aggies tough on Saturday rallying from a 15-point halftime deficit and taking a late 66-64 lead before an eventual game-winning three pointer by Bandja Sy.

In three of the four halves of basketball the Aggies and Mavs have played this season, UTA has outscored the Aggies by 13, 8 and 12 points. The Aggies will undoubtedly be focused on Kevin Butler and Karol Gruszecki who in the two games against the Aggies this season have combined for 48 points and 17 rebounds. The Aggies also need to take care of the basketball against the Mavs. They committed 35 turnovers in the two previous meetings which UTA has converted into 33 points. The Aggies have taken good care of the basketball in the two games in the tournament so far with just 18 turnovers in two games.

One area of concern tonight is the Aggies' free throw shooting. In two tournament games it has been less than spectacular despite the two wins. They were just 7-of-16 against Idaho and 22-of-35 against Texas State. Should this game go down to the wire the Aggies will need to hit free throws.

The Aggies also need to get big games out of Bandja Sy and Daniel Mullings. Texas State took those two away by playing triangle and two in the semifinals. As a result Sy and Mullings combined to take just eight shots and scored only 13 points. Suffice to say the Aggies cannot win tonight if those two combine for just 13 points.

Finally, we believe the Aggies have the advantage tonight in terms of coaching. Marvin Menzies has been here before. It's his fourth WAC title game in six seasons, third in four years and he knows exactly what to say to his players to get them ready for tonight. We have no doubt they'll be completely locked into the game until the final buzzer sounds.

By the end of the night we expect the Aggies to be cutting down the nets in a close one with our final score prediction of: New Mexico State 67, UT-Arlington 61.

Thursday at the WAC Tournament produced one of the wildest days of action in recent WAC Tournament history as the top two seeds fell, a traditional power saw their season end and after the dust settled New Mexico State found themselves as the westernmost team left in the tournament -- New Mexico State vs. the Southland Conference so to speak (UTA, TXST and UTSA were all Southland Conference members last year).

The day started with New Mexico State pulling away from Idaho, a team that had given them two close games in the regular season. We noted yesterday that a similar scenario unfolded last season with the Aggies' first round opponent Fresno State. The result was nearly identical. A team that had given the Aggies trouble in the regular season was no match for them in the postseason as the Aggies cruised to a 65-49 victory.

What followed next could only be described as chaos as 8-seed Texas State upset 2-seed Denver. The Pioneers entered the week having lost just once since late December, a loss in Las Cruces to New Mexico State on January 23rd. Texas State's Joel Wright torched the Pioneers for 32 points and DU's quest for an NCAA Tournament bid fell woefully short.

Following that stunning upset 9-seed UT-San Antonio stunned 1-seed Louisiana Tech ending their NCAA Tournament hopes a year after the Bulldogs made noise of their own ousting top seed Nevada.

Not since the 1990 WAC tournament had the top two seeds both fallen in the quarterfinals. That year No. 1 BYU and No. 2 Colorado State both lost in the quarterfinals. That year the 3-seed and 4-seed both made the championship game with the 4-seed (UTEP) beating the 3-seed (Hawai'i). Hopefully that history does not repeat as the Aggies are the 3-seed and UT-Arlington is the 4-seed. Similarly one can be reminded of the 2008 WAC Tournament as the top two seeds that year also fell (in the semifinals) and the Aggies (also the 3-seed that year) seemingly had a clear path to the Big Dance playing Boise State (also the 4-seed that year) on their home floor only to lose in triple-overtime -- Marvin Menzies first season, a loss that still stings to this day.

Today's game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. (MDT) tip-off and can be heard on the Aggie Sports Network and streaming online via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The Aggie baseball and softball teams are both back in action this weekend as Aggie softball is in Lincoln, NE to take on the 21st ranked Huskers while Aggie baseball returns home to face Alabama A&M after dropping a pair of games to No. 17 Oklahoma.

The Aggie softball team plays a doubleheader today beginning at 3:00 p.m. (MDT) with free streaming audio available via the Nebraska athletic website.

Aggie baseball plays today at 6:05 p.m. at Presley Askew Field with Live Stats available and the game tentatively scheduled to be broadcast on KSNM AM 570 and streaming online via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The Aggie men's basketball team kicks off their quest to repeat as WAC Tournament champions today at 1:00 p.m. (MDT) when they take on Idaho. The Aggies swept the season series with Idaho but it wasn't easy. The Aggies won by the slimmest of margins in Moscow, 71-70, getting a last second free throw from Daniel Mullings to win the game and then 76-74 in Las Cruces again getting free throws from Daniel Mullings, this time with 14 seconds left, to win the game. Today's game could be another tight one.

The Aggies must find a way to neutralize WAC Player of the Year Kyle Barone who went for 18/10 in Moscow and 26/7 in Las Cruces. Equally important will be defending the three point arc. The Vandals have shot a combined 13-of-26 in the two games with Connor Hill hitting nearly half of those shots (12).

As far as the Aggies go, they'll likely be without Tyrone Watson according to the Las Cruces Sun-News' Jason Groves who spoke with Coach Menzies. Watson is still recovering from an ankle injury suffered in his first game back from suspension and he did not see any action in the Aggies' win against UT-Arlington on Senior Night last Saturday.

Today's game against Idaho is similar to last year's tournament game against Fresno State. The Aggies struggled against Fresno State in the regular season winning a pair of close games including needing to erase a 19-point deficit to defeat the Bulldogs. The Aggies cruised to victory over the Bulldogs in the WAC tourney game eventually winning the tournament. Could the same thing happen this year? We'll have to wait and see.

The Vandals have yet to win a WAC Tournament game under head coach Don Verlin and the Aggies will try to keep that streak going. This is an Aggie team that should be considered a favorite if not the favorite given the Aggies' history. New Mexico State has also never failed to make it to the semifinals of the tournament but they are also battling a bit of recent WAC history as no team has won back-to-back tourney titles in over a decade with Hawai'i the last team to do so back in the early 2000s.

Today's game is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. (MDT) tip-off and can be heard on the Aggie Sports Network with streaming audio available via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The Aggie women's basketball team's season ended yesterday with a loss to Seattle in the WAC Quarterfinals. The Aggies gave the top seed a fight for the first 30 minutes of the game going up by 13 in the first half, leading by eight at halftime before running out of gas en route to a 77-53 loss.

It was the final game for Kelsie Rozendaal, Stephanie Gilbreath, Malia Magazzeni and Chrissy Fletcher. Gilbreath finished with 23 points on 8-of-20 shooting but it was Rozendaal who only took four shots and scored just three points after a career-night the day before.

Too often this season the Aggies ignored Rozendaal's presence inside and in particular on a night when the Aggies needed to counter Kacie Sowell's presence in the post, Rozendaal wasn't much a part of the Aggie game plan. Instead the Aggies' shot 28 three pointers hitting 29 percent of them.

It will be an interesting offseason for the Aggies as they'll return an incredibly young team next year. The Aggies desperately need to find a good post player to complement their array of shooters.

The New Mexico State women's basketball team is back in action this evening after defeating 9-seed UT Arlington in the play-in round of the 2013 WAC Tournament. The Aggie women were in a nip and tuck battle with the Mavs before going on a 23-4 run midway through the second half to seize control of the game. Senior Kelsie Rozendaal had career-highs in points (23) and rebounds (17) and was a huge catalyst in the Aggie victory. Rozendaal will need to duplicate that effort tonight as well as get some help from her teammates when they face top seed Seattle. The Aggies lost both games in the regular season against the Redhawks falling by six in Las Cruces and by 18 in Seattle, though that game the Aggies trailed by over 20 points and cut it to eight in the second half before losing by 18. The losses to Seattle bookended the Aggies' nine-game conference losing streak but since then the Aggies have won six of their last seven games and are one of the hottest teams in the WAC.

The key tonight for the Aggies if they are to win is to find a way to neutralize WAC Player of the Year Kacie Sowell. The Seattle post had her way with the Aggies in both meetings finishing with a combined 38 points and 23 rebounds and shot 17-of-24 from the field against the Aggies in the two games.

Stefanie Gilbreath and Danesia Williamson both had pretty good regular season games against Seattle and will need to duplicate those efforts as well. The Aggies also need to make three point shots but also not attempt too many. The Aggies shot 18 in the first contest and a whopping 36 in the second. In yesterday's win the Aggies attempted 21 three point shots in the first half and yet led by just two points. In the second half the Aggies got the ball inside to Rozendaal and attempted just five more three pointers and won going away.

Tonight's game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. (MDT) tip-off and can be heard on KGRT FM 103.9 in Las Cruces with streaming audio available via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The 2013 WAC Basketball Tournament gets underway today with four play-in games. The women will hit the hardwood first with New Mexico State playing in the second play-in game where they'll face Saturday's foe UT-Arlington. The Aggies jumped out to a big lead on the Mavericks down in Arlington but had to hold on as the Mavs rallied late before the Aggies held on for a 72-66 victory. New Mexico State split the season series with UTA with each team winning on the other's home court -- UTA 62-59 in Las Cuces and the Aggies the aforementioned 72-66 win in Arlington.

The two keys players for both teams are Stephanie Gilbreath for the Aggies who scored 40 points in two games against UTA and Laila Suleiman who scored 32 points in the two games against the Aggies. Obviously those two players will be the focus of the defensive efforts by both teams but today's game could come down to another player or to elevating their game. In the first meeting the Mavs had three other players in double figures in scoring while in the Aggies' win on Saturday it was Kelsie Rozendaal chipping in for 16 points along with two others in double figures.

Expect the three balls to fly for the Aggies against UTA as they shot a total of 58 three pointers against the Mavs in the two games hitting 13 (22.4 percent).

This game will mark the fourth time since joining the WAC that the Aggies' first opponent in the WAC tournament is the same is their regular season finale opponent. The Aggies faced Hawai'i, Louisiana Tech and Fresno State in those three previous meeting coming away with a 1-2 record. In the games against LA Tech and Fresno State the Aggies lost both the regular season finale as well as the tournament matchup, however, they did win the regular season finale against Hawai'i and also the tournament game just days later which bodes well for this afternoon's contest against UTA.

Today's game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. (MDT) tip-off and can be heard on KSNM AM 570 in Las Cruces as well as streaming online via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The Aggie baseball team heads to Norman, Okla. today to take on the 17th ranked Sooners. The Aggies are riding a five-game winning streak after coming off a weekend four-game sweep of La Salle in which the Aggie offense got back on track scoring a total of 41 runs.

The Sooners come into the midweek series having lost four of their previous six games including a loss to fellow WAC member UT-Arlington.

Both today and tomorrow's games are scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. (MDT) first pitch and can be heard on KSNM AM 570 in Las Cruces as well as streaming online via Aggie Access (subscription required).

It's Gameday! It's a very busy game day in fact with several Aggie teams in action today. The women's track and field team is in Albuquerque for the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships with day three underway today. The Aggies have already had Zoe Meade claim the pentathlon crown and yesterday the amazing Schultz sisters did what they do best, top the rest of the field as they went 1-2 in the indoor 5,000 meter race with Courtney winning the crown and Camille finishing second.

The Aggie baseball and softball teams are both in action with the Aggie softball team taking on South Dakota and UTEP today down in El Paso and the baseball team taking on Illinois at the Keith Leclaire Classic in North Carolina. Aggie baseball shut out Ohio 7-0 yesterday as Adam Mott and Ryan Beck combined for the shutout.

Aggie women's hoops is home for their penultimate home game as they take on future WAC member Cal State-Bakersfield (11-15) today at 4:00 p.m. (MT). The Aggie women are riding the momentum of a 196 point weekend last weekend with a pair of wins over San Jose State and Utah State. The Aggies appear to have broken out of their slump at just the right time with the final three games of WAC play coming up starting next Saturday and the WAC tournament just three weeks away.

Today's game can be heard on KSNM AM 570 in Las Cruces with streaming audio available via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The Aggie men battle I-10 rival UTEP for the 205th time tonight at 7:00 p.m. in an "all hands on deck" Whiteout game and it is expected to be sold out. The Aggies narrowly lost to UTEP in El Paso in what feels like ages ago. This is the latest these two teams have played in the regular season since 1995. The Miners have had the better of the Aggies in the 2000's with the Aggies just 8-17 against UTEP.

The Aggies should have an advantage over UTEP tonight on the glass as the Miners are one of the worst rebounding teams in the country. They're a decent defensive team and much like the Aggies, they place at a slower pace averaging 63 possessions per game.

This game is going to be won on the defensive end and the Aggies need to bounce back from their lackluster performance against Utah State in which they gave up numerous open three point shots as well as a higher-than-normal number of open drives to the basket.

We fully expect the final score for this game to be in the 50s with the Aggies winning 59-54.

Tonight's game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off and can be seen on AggieVision as well as streaming online via ESPN3.com

The spring season is in full swing as Aggie baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball were all in action over the weekend. It was a mixed bag for Aggie baseball as they split their opening weekend series with UW-Milwaukee winning games one and four. Aggie softball split six games in the Troy Cox Classic picking a win over Missouri-Kansas City, splitting with Penn State and Colorado State and losing in extra innings to Texas Tech. The Aggie softball team is back in action tomorrow night when they host Rio Grande Rival UNM for the second time in eight days.

The Aggie women's basketball team snapped their nine-game losing streak in style over the weekend defeating San Jose State and Utah State while scoring a combined 196 points on the weekend. The Aggies' turnaround may have actually started back in Seattle. We noted after the game that even though the Aggies lost by 16 points, it was a much more competitive game than the final score revealed. The Aggies trailed 38-15 at halftime but caught fire and scored 47 second-half points which led us to tweet the following: Aggies scored 47 points in the 2nd half. Impressive when you consider theirlast 3 gms their 40 min pt totals-49, 53, 53. The improved offensive output culminated in the Aggies' 106 point outbreak on Saturday night. The Aggies scored a mind-boggling 67 points in the second half which is impressive by itself but consider this... that second half total is more than the Aggies have scored in SEVENTEEN different games this season!. Think about that for a minute.

Over the weekend the Aggies looked a lot more like the team we thought might compete for a WAC title during the regular season. Unfortunately it hasn't quite worked out that way but the Aggies may be peaking at the right time -- late February and early March. While the two wins didn't move the Aggies up the standings any, it did help keep them out of last place which they would have fallen to had they lost both games. With three games left it's still likely that the Aggies will have to play in Tuesday's first round action (which pits the 7-seed vs. the 10-seed and 8-seed vs. the 9-seed) but a streaking Aggie team would definitely be a team that none of the top teams would want to face.

On a side note, Danesia Williamson was named WAC Player of the Week for her efforts in the weekend sweep as she averaged 21 points and 10 assists in the two games.

The Aggie men's basketball team dropped their first game of 2013 losing at Utah State on Saturday night. The Aggie men fall to 12-3 in conference play and now need a lot of things to go their way if they're going to win the regular season title. The Aggies would need Louisiana Tech to lose three of their final four games which is entirely possible given that LA Tech hosts Utah State and then travels to New Mexico State and Denver to end the season. The Aggies would also need to win out which means beating Denver on the road and avenging the opening weekend losses against Louisiana Tech and UT-Arlington. If those scenarios play out the Aggies would at least share the regular season title with LA Tech and Denver and could win outright if Denver loses more than once and LA Tech has an epic collapse and loses all four of their remaining conference games which seems unlikely.

Saturday's loss at Utah State was certainly an opportunity lost because while it doesn't mathematically eliminate the Aggies from regular season title contention and the top seed, it does make it quite a bit more difficult as we noted in the scenarios above. You're probably thinking, why all the talk about the regular season title and the top seed? Don't the Aggies need to win the WAC tournament to make the NCAA tournament? Yes. That is the case, the Aggies are not an at-large team, however, many people forget that the winner of the regular season title (and top seed after tiebreakers) earn an automatic bid into the NIT should they fail to win the conference tournament. The Aggies would guarantee themselves some sort of postseason bid should they win the regular season title and the top seed.

As it would appear now (barring a minor miracle) it's NCAA tourney or bust given the Aggies' reluctance to play in one of the "pay for play" postseason tournaments (CBI, CIT, etc.) and it appears unlikely that the Aggies would reverse their stance on playing in one of those tournaments.

The Aggie men's basketball team is back in action tonight as they go for their 13th consecutive victory when they face Utah State. The Aggies have won three straight in the series and are looking for their second consecutive regular season sweep of Utah State. The Aggies are looking to keep pace with Denver who went into Logan and pulled out a 63-60 overtime victory over the UtAgs which coincidentally gave Denver their second consecutive victory at The Spectrum.

For all of the talk about Utah State's hundreds of sets that they run and the precision with which they run them, Marvin Menzies and crew seem to have figured out how to defend Utah State. In the last six meetings between the two teams New Mexico State has held USU to 63 (W), 59 (L), 58 (L), 60 (W), 69 (W) and 51 (W) points and as you can see they're 4-2 in those games (which includes a WAC tourney title game win).

USU is still playing without two of their best players in Preston Medlin and Kyisean Reed but it has been Spencer Butterfield who has stepped up for USU. He's averaging 16.8 points per game in the past six games for them and is one player the Aggies do need to key on. Interestingly enough the UtAgs have gone 3-3 in those past six games and all three of those losses are at home.

Tonight's game is scheduled for a 9:00 p.m. (MT) tip-off and can be seen on ESPNU and while the stakes won't be as high for Utah State as they have been in the past it's still a conference rivalry game and it's still a vitally important game for New Mexico State as they try to keep pace with Louisiana Tech and Denver heading into the homestretch.

The Aggie women's basketball team is also back in action tonight as they face league-leader Utah State. It's payback time for the Aggies as they hope to avenge a stunning last-second loss suffered earlier this season in Logan when Utah State buried a three as time expired to stun New Mexico State.

Utah State is on an eight game winning streak and that win streak started with that win over New Mexico State.

Devyn Christensen continues to play like a Player of the Year candidate and is averaging 19.8 points per game, second in the conference and she hit the game-winner in overtime against Denver on Thursday night.

New Mexico State looks to continue the hot shooting they had against SJSU where they scored 90 points and shot 44 percent from three point distance, a key stat for the Aggies as we've mentioned numerous times here.

Can the Aggies pull off the shocker tonight? If they shoot the three ball as well as they did against SJSU they certainly are capable.

Tonight's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. (MT) tip-off and can be seen on AggieVision and ESPN3.com.

The Aggie baseball and softball teams are both back in action today. The baseball team is looking to bounce back from an 11-0 loss to UW-Milwaukee in game two of yesterday's doubleheader, one of the few times they've ever been shut out at home. The Aggies and UW-Milwaukee play another doubleheader today beginning at 2:00 p.m. (MT).

Aggie softball looks to continue their win streak after a pair of run-rule victories yesterday (10-1 over UMKC and 10-2 over Penn State). The Aggies take on Penn State at 2:00 p.m. (MT) and Colorado State following the conclusion of the first game.

The Aggie men's and women's basketball teams are back in action tonight. The men are on the road to take on San Jose State while the women also take on San Jose State. The men are looking for their 12th consecutive victory while the women are looking to break their nine game losing streak.

For the Aggie men it's a chance to match their longest winning streak since the 2006-07 season. Tonight they may have to do it without Bandja Sy who suffered an injury during the Aggies' game against Seattle. Bandja is the latest in a long list of Aggie players shuffled in and out of the starting lineup this season. The Aggies have done a great job of adjusting to the shuffling lineup during their win streak but the loss of Sy could hit the team the hardest. As we pointed out last week when Bandja Sy scores in double-figures this season the Aggies are 12-2, though they have won the past two with Sy scoring just nine points.

The Aggies had little trouble with San Jose State in the first meeting between these two teams and they shouldn't have much more trouble with the Spartans this time around even without Sy, Watson or Ross-Miller.

The Spartans are a very offensively challenged basketball team and rank last or near the bottom in most offensive categories. This is a game that the Aggie defense should hold SJSU into the low 50s.

Tonight's game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. (MT) tip-off and can be heard on the Aggie Sports Network and streaming online via Aggie Access (subscription required).

The Aggie women's nine-game losing streak has a chance to come to an end tonight as they host San Jose State. The Aggies lost by just one to SJSU on the road earlier this season. The Aggies return to the friendly confines of the Pan Am after a tough that saw them lose by 19 to Idaho and 16 to Seattle (though the Aggies did trim the lead down to eight in the second half).

The Spartans play the fastest pace in the country averaging a whopping 86 possessions per 40 minutes which is the most in the country. The Aggies come in at just under 70 possessions per game which is dead last in the league. The Aggies can't get into a scoring contest with the Spartans. New Mexico State has made a living this season on clamping down on opposing teams' offense and that got away from them a little last week on the road.

Tonight's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. (MT) tip-off and is the Aggies' Pink Out, Play for Kay game. Radio coverage is available on KSNM AM 570 in Las Cruces and streaming online via Aggie Access (subscription required).