LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The defending undisputed Western Athletic Conference Champion and four-consecutive WAC Tournament Champion NM State Aggies (5-4) look to even the series in the Rio Grande Rivalry for 2015 as they travel up I-25 to Albuquerque to face the New Mexico Lobos (6-2) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in WisePies Arena aka The Pit. The Aggies enter the contest 5-4 after losing to Wyoming 62-59 at the Pan American Center on Sunday. The Lobos are 6-2 after handing Northern Iowa a 76-57 loss last Saturday.
 
SERIES RECORD: This is the 216th meeting between the Aggies and the Lobos in the Rio Grande Rivalry, marking the longest series in the school's history that dates back to December 1904. The Aggies trail the Lobos in the series 96-119, with UNM winning the last three games including an 83-74 decision on Nov. 15, 2015 at the Pan American Center. In 2014, UNM won 69-67 on Dec. 20 in Las Cruces and 62-47 on Dec. 3 in Albuquerque. The teams split games by winning on the other's home courts in 2013. UNM beat NM State 79-70 on Dec. 4, 2013 at the Pan Am Center, while the Aggies beat the Lobos 67-61 on Dec. 17, 2013 at The Pit. The Lobos hold a 71-38 advantage in games played in Albuquerque.
 
MEDIA COVERAGE: Saturday's game can be heard live on the Aggie Sports Network and over the Las Cruces radio airwaves on KWML, 570AM with NM State Hall of Famer Jack Nixon on the call.
 
The game will be televised online by ESPN3 with Trey Bender (play-by-play) and Blaine Fowler (analyst).
 
LIVE STATS ON THE WEB: Live stats are available for most games at www.nmstatesports.com at no cost all season long and.
 
ABOUT THE AGGIES: NM State dropped its second game at home this season with the 62-59 defeat by Wyoming. NM State had its 11-game winning streak at the Pan American Center was snapped with the 83-74 loss to New Mexico on Nov. 15 and had won four more before the loss to the Cowboys. Still, since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Aggies sport a 49-6 record at the Pan Am (.891).
 
In the last 62 contests played by NM State at the Pan Am, the Aggies are 56-6 (.903).
 
Sophomore Pascal Siakam opened the season strong. On Dec. 2 he tallied the first 20-20 game in 13 seasons with his 24 points and 23 rebounds in a win over UTEP. It's the most rebounds for an Aggie since Chris Jackson's 23 at North Texas on Feb. 1, 2003.
 
Siakam was named the WAC Player of the Week the first three weeks of this season. He leads the nation in field goals made (83), is ninth nationally in scoring (23.7 ppg), third in rebounding (13.3 rpg) and second in double-doubles (8). He's 39th in blocked shots (2.22) and 32nd in minutes played (36.11). He leads the WAC in all six categories as well.
 
The Aggies posted a 23-11 campaign in 2014-15 that included a 13-1 WAC record and the outright regular season championship. They won a record fourth consecutive WAC Tournament. No other program in the history of the Western Athletic Conference has ever won more than two straight tournaments.
 
The Aggies are also coming off appearing in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, and five in the last six seasons. The Ags are aiming to match the school record of five straight appearances set first from 1967-to-1971 under Lou Henson and then again from 1990-to-1994 under Neil McCarthy.
 
Siakam collected his second 30-point game with his 35 points (with 13 rebounds) against Robert Morris. He becomes the first Aggie to post multiple 30-point games in the same season since Troy Gillenwater had four in 2010-11. His first was 30 points against Tennessee Tech when he became the first Aggie to score 30 since Daniel Mullings on Jan. 25, 2014 scored 32 at UT Pan American (now UT Rio Grande Valley).
 
Siakam was named by the media as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year. Last season's WAC Freshman of the Year, Siakam averaged 12.4 points, leading the WAC in field goal percentage (.572) and blocked shots (61, 1.8 per game). Siakam was named to the Preseason All-WAC First Team by both the coaches and media.
 
Junior Ian Baker was named to the Preseason All-WAC First Team by both the coaches and media. Currently, Baker is sixth in the WAC in scoring (15.2 ppg), third in 3-point field goals (2.56 pg) and seventh in assists (3.56 apg).
 
NM State had 11 of its 12 suited players score against Houston Baptist. The last time the Aggies had 11 players in the scoring totals was on Nov. 26, 2014 in a 78-33 win over Florida A&M.
 
Of the Aggies eight returning lettermen, only one didn't play in at least 26 of the teams 34 games (or 76 percent of the games) last season. Tanveer Bhullar saw action in just 10 games after missing most of the season with a foot injury.
 
Of the 14 players on the NM State roster, nine are from countries other than the United States.  Four players are from Toronto, Canada, with two from France, one from Cameroon, one from Colombia, and one from Mexico.
 
MENZIES MARKS: Now in his ninth season at New Mexico State, head coach Marvin Menzies is the Dean of WAC Coaches. Menzies is writing himself into the annals of NM State history. With a record of 180-104, Menzies is third on the all-time win list for NM State Coaches. He's reached the 175 win mark faster than the two men in front of him on the win list: Hall of Famer Lou Henson and Neil McCarthy. Henson (1966-75, 1997-2005) leads the group with 289 wins on the Aggie bench (289-152, 16 years). McCarthy (1985-97) has 229 victories (229-114, 12 years). He passed UNM's Bob King (1962-72) for ninth on the WAC all-games win list at 176 with the win over Houston Baptist. He's ninth on the win list for WAC only games with 90, and is third in WAC only winning percentage at .714 in front of the late Jerry Tarkanian at Fresno State (1995-2002). Even with all the winning, Menzies collected his first Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year Award last year when the Aggies won the regular season by five games. Menzies was named one of Forbes' top 25 college coaches for the money in November 2014.
 
SUPER SOPHOMORE SIAKAM: Sophomore Pascal Siakam is making a national name for himself with his strong play in the first third of the season. Siakam became the first Aggie to post a 20-rebound game in 13 years when he recorded the program's 10th 20-20 game with a 24-point, 23-rebound game against UTEP. Chris Jackson had the last of both on Feb. 1, 2003 when he posted 20 points and 23 boards at North Texas. The 23 boards are tied for the seventh most in a game in program history and are the most in NCAA Division I this season. They were also the most in the WAC since Paul Millsap of Louisiana Tech had 28 against San Jose State on Feb. 15, 2006. Against Wyoming he collected 14 points and 15 rebounds for his eighth double-double and 15th of his career. Siakam became the first person ever to be selected as the WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week in three consecutive weeks with his selection in the first three weeks. The 6-9 forward from Douala, Cameroon, established a new career-high when he dropped 35 points on Robert Morris to go with 13 rebounds. He followed it with 26 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots at Air Force. The 35 points are the most since Justin Hawkins scored 37 against Hawaii at the Pan Am on March 8, 2008. He is also the first Aggie to post multiple 30-point games in a season since Troy Gillenwater in 2010-11. He had 30 against Tennessee Tech, becoming the first Aggie to score 30 since Daniel Mullings had 32 against Texas-Pan American (UT Rio Grande Valley) on Jan. 25, 2014. He also chalked up 11 rebounds and set a career-best with four assists. There have been 14 back-to-back Men's Players of the Week in the WAC (including Siakam), and the closest to three straight were three in four weeks done by San Diego State's Michael Cage in 1983-84 and NM State's Daniel Mullings in 2013-14. Selected the WAC Preseason Player of the Year by the media, Siakam leads the nation in field goals made (83), is ninth nationally in scoring (23.7 ppg), third in rebounding (13.3 rpg), second in double-doubles (8), is 39th in blocked shots (2.22) and 32nd in minutes played (36.11), leading the WAC in all. Siakam also has the top two of the top three scoring games in the league this year. The league's Freshman of the Year in 2014-15, Siakam was a first team All-WAC selection as a freshman and was honored as a first team NABC All-District VII performer last season. In two seasons he has 649 career points, 382 career rebounds. He also has 81 career blocked shots and needs one to join the Aggie career top 10.
 
THIS BAKER DELIVERS: Junior Ian Baker has been a shining star as well and rock steady running the team. The second leading scorer on the team, the 6-0 guard from Washington, D.C., is averaging 15.2 points a contest, ranked sixth in the WAC. He's also third in the WAC in free throw shooting, hitting 82.8 percent from the line (24-of-29). He's third in the league in 3-pointers per game (2.56), seventh in 3-point percentage (.377, 23-of-61) and sixth in assists (3.56). He scored a career-high 22 points against UTEP and 20 vs. Wyoming after picking up 17 points at Air Force with a career-high eight rebounds. Baker popped for 19 points in consecutive games against New Mexico and Tennessee Tech. The elder statesman of the team, Baker was named Preseason First Team All-WAC by both the coaches and the media.
 
WARMIN' UP WILKINS: Sophomore Johnathon Wilkins has made the most out of his last two games. The 6-10, 225 pound forward grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in the loss to Wyoming and nearly had a double-double with eight points as well. Against UTEP, Wilkins posted a season-high  10 points. After missing the first four games due to an administrative error, Wilkins has moved into the starting lineup and is averaging 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds a game. Wilkins played in all 34 games last season, starting 10 as a redshirt freshman.
 
HENSON INDUCTED: Aggie Legend Lou Henson was officially inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Nov. 20 as part of a class of eight individuals, including three coaches, who formed the NCB Class of 2015 at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Mo. Henson had a 41-year career as a collegiate head coach, all at the NCAA Division I level, posting a record of 779-412 with a 65.4 winning percentage. He's the all-time winningest coach at both New Mexico State and Illinois, and started his career at Hardin-Simmons. Henson, a 1955 graduate of NM State, coached 16 years in two stints for his alma mater, posting a 289-152 record. He also tallied a 423-224 mark in 21 years at Illinois and amassed a 67-36 record in four seasons at HSU. He is currently 11th all-time in career Division I victories, and was sixth on that list when he fully retired from the floor in January of 2005. Henson is one of only 12 coaches to take two different schools to the Final Four.
 
THE FAVORITE: New Mexico State is the prohibitive favorite to win the Western Athletic Conference by both the league's coaches and the media.  The media went on to name sophomore forward Pascal Siakam as the league's preseason player of the year.
 
The Aggies received seven of the eight first place votes and 49 points from the coaches, the most they could receive since they couldn't vote for their own team or players.  Grand Canyon was second with 39 points and CSU Bakersfield third with 36 and the other first place vote.
 
The media, with no voting restrictions, picked up 13 of the 14 first place votes and was third on the ballot that gave CSU Bakersfield a first place vote for a total of 110 points.
 
The media gave Grand Canyon second with 88 and Missouri-Kansas City third with 87.
 
Siakam and junior guard Ian Baker were the Aggies selected on both the Coaches and Media's Preseason All-WAC first team. Siakam was the media's preseason player of the year, while UMKC's Martez Harrison was the coaches preseason player of the year.
 
LOOKING BACK: to overcome a 15-point deficit, but the Wyoming Cowboys answered with a key 3-pointer to snap the run as Wyoming claimed a 62-59 win Sunday at the Pan American Center.
 
Ian Baker recorded his second 20-point game of the season as he led the Aggies with 20 points, while Siakam posted his eighth double-double of the year and 15th of his career with 14 points and 15 rebounds to go with two blocked shots. Johnathon Wilkins added eight points with eight rebounds.
 
The Aggies shot just 35 percent from the floor, while the Cowboys hit 45 percent. NM State out rebounded the Cowboys 45-27.
 
ABOUT THE LOBOS: New Mexico is 6-2 on the season after beating Northern Iowa 76-57 at WisePies Arena on Saturday. The Lobos are led by guard Elijah Brown (6-4, So., Orange County, Calif.) who averages 18.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 45.2 percent from the floor. Forward Tim Williams (6-8, Jr., Flossmoor, Ill.) contributes 16.5 points and leads the team with 8.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks an outing. Guard Cullen Neal (6-4, So., Albuquerque, N.M.), the son of head coach Craig Neal, adds 15.0 points, 2.8 boards and 4.5 assists per contest. Both Brown averages 2.4 3-pointers a game while Neal adds 2.1. UNM is scoring 78.2 points a game, and allowing 67.1 per contest.
 
CHALLENGING STRETCH: The Aggies started tough holiday campaign on Sunday that leads them to Western Athletic Conference play. NM State fell to Wyoming, and now travels to rivals UNM and UTEP on Wednesday and Saturday, then hosts Oral Roberts next Monday. The Aggies then visit No. 16/14 Baylor on Dec. 23. After Christmas, it's at Wichita State on Dec. 28 (receiving votes in the polls), back home for NAIA No. 4 Arizona Christian on Dec. 30 before a trip to UC Irvine on Jan. 2.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Aggies closeout the rivalry season as they conclude the I-10 Rivalry by traveling across the Texas border to face UTEP at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso.
 
The Miners are 6-3 on the season after losing at Washington State 84-68 last Saturday. UTEP has lost three straight since the Aggies won on Dec. 2. The Miners are led by guard Lee Moore (6-4, Jr., Kennesaw, Ga.) who averages 15.9 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting .300 from the 3-point arc. Guard Earvin Morris (6-4, Sr., Memphis, Tenn.) adds 15.4 points, 4.1 boards and 2.5 assists per contest. Center Hooper Vint (6-11, Sr., Van Buren, Ark.) averages 11.4 points and leads the Miners with 5.7 boards, with guard Dominic Artis (6-3, Jr., San Francisco, Calif.) chipping in 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists with 1.7 steals an outing. UTEP is scoring 76.9 points a game, and allowing 68.9 per contest.