ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The mission to defend their Western Athletic Conference basketball titles begins today for the New Mexico State basketball teams.
The 8-7 men are at Utah Valley, while the 11-3 women host Utah Valley. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.
The Aggies have had star-quality play from Pascal Siakam (23.4 points, 11.7 rebounds per game). But coming off a frustrating 54-52 loss Saturday at UC Irvine, in which the Aggies failed to score in the last 2:58, their stock as preseason league favorites seems has taken a hit.
NMSU’s Ratings Percentage Index of 186 is only fourth best in the eight-team league, behind Grand Canyon (125), CSU Bakersfield (129) and UMKC (176).