Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State men's basketball head coach Marvin Menzies has signed Kevin Aronis and Matej Buovac to National Letters of Intent. The duo joins the Aggies for the 2012-13 season.

Aronis (pronounced Ah-ROW-niss) is a 6-3 shooting guard from Sebastopol, Calif., and Buovac (Mah-tay BOO-ah-vec) is a 6-7 small forward from Zagreb, Croatia.

"Obviously, we had a weakness in the area of shooting the ball last year, so we tried to identify some guys that could help us in that area, along with doing some other things," Menzies said. "Both of them are high character kids with good academic foundations and are great people. We are really excited to be able to add both Kevin and Matej to the Aggie family."  Continue Reading This Post >>

New Mexico State senior forward Wendell McKines has been invited to play in the 60th annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in Portsmouth, VA. McKines is one of 64 college seniors invited to play in the annual event featuring some of college basketball's best seniors. The P.I.T. will be played April 11 - 14th. There are eight teams consisting of eight players on each team.

2012 Teams/Rosters | Player List/Stats | Schedule

History of the P.I.T.

Each year for 58 years the P.I.T has invited 64 of the best college basketball players (seniors) from across the nation to participate in a four-day, twelve game tournament in front of representatives from every NBA team. The tournament drew the attention of NBA Scouts and General Managers in the mid-70's when players like Dave Cowens, John Lucas, Walt Szczerbiak and Bobby Cremins came to Portsmouth to play. Soon the word spread and approximately 200 Scouts, General Managers and Representatives of all 30 NBA teams began to come to see players like John Stockton, Dennis Rodman, Tim Hardaway, Scottie Pippen and others. Today scouts from numerous international leagues have joined in on the annual April pilgrimage to Portsmouth. Over the years the P.I.T. has been a showcase for five of the 50 greatest players in NBA History (Rick Barry, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, Dave Cowens, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen) and for many others who have gone on to NBA stardom.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State redshirt senior forward Wendell McKines has been picked to play in the 2012 Reese's Division I College All-Star game, Friday, March 30 at 3:35 p.m. at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) selected the rosters for the all-star game, which will be played as part of Final Four Friday during the 2012 NCAA Men's Final Four weekend. The game features 20 of the nation's most outstanding seniors from NCAA Division I.

The Reese's College All-Star Game will be broadcast Saturday, March 31 at 11 a.m. on TruTV.

McKines is a member of the west all-star team. He led the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament and averaged 18.7 points and 10.7 rebounds this season.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Courtesy ASAP Sports

Q.  What have you observed about New Mexico State in the time you've watched them on film?
CODY ZELLER:  They're definitely very athletic.  And there's a reason why they're in the NCAA tournament.  They're definitely very athletic.  They like to crash the boards.  We're going to have to do a nice job of getting the defensive rebounds.  They're definitely a very talented team.

Q.  How does the Big Ten season and playing in that conference prepared you to play against a physical team like this?
JORDAN HULLS:  Helped us out a lot playing against the Michigan States and Ohio States, all of the Big Ten is a very physical conference.  It really got us ready for this game because New Mexico State, they play physical.  They crash the boards a lot, so we've got to do a good job of boxing out.

Q.  You've known for awhile you were going to be in the tournament.  Can you talk about the reaction you've had from friends, fans, fellow students since the announcement was made on Sunday night that you guys were actually back in the tournament?
CHRISTIAN WATFORD:  We received a lot of support from our friends and family.  They've been with us throughout the whole year.  It's given them something to cheer for.

Q.  I'm curious, have you all been able to get your family out here to Portland?  I know that's always an issue with some guys.  I know the NCAA probably ought to help family members get out here.  Are all three of your family members coming out here?
CODY ZELLER:  My parents are going to watch Tyler in Greensboro, because he's the favorite.
CHRISTIAN WATFORD:  My family is on their way out here right now.
JORDAN HULLS:  My parents, my aunt, my cousin and my brother are coming.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Tickets to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament are on sale now at the Pan American Center ticket office.

The Aggies earned a #13 seed and will play #4 seed Indiana on Thursday night in Portland, Oregon. Tickets are $81 per session and can be ordered in person at the Pan Am Center ticket office or by calling 575-646-1420. The session ticket includes the NM State vs. Indiana game at 6:45PM, plus the Wichita State vs. Virginia Commonwealth game at 4:15PM (times listed are Pacific).

Because of the quick turn-around time, all physical tickets will be available at will call in Portland.

With a victory over Indiana, the Aggies would advance to the round of 32 and play on Saturday in Portland. Again, tickets for that session would be $81 each and may be purchased through NM State ticket personnel on site in Portland.

The New Mexico State men's basketball team learned it's seeding and first round opponent on Sunday afternoon during the NCAA Tournament selection show. The Aggies received a 13-seed and will face 4-seed Indiana out of the Big Ten conference. The Aggies are 26-9 and coming off their second WAC tournament victory in three seasons. The Hoosiers are 25-8 and ranked 15th in the latest AP poll. Indiana finished the season with a 2-1 record on neutral courts and 5-6 away from Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Aggies finished the season 5-1 on neutral courts and 7-5 away from the Pan American Center.

Indiana is led in scoring by freshman forward Cody Zeller who is averaging 15.5 points per game to go along with 6.4 rebounds per game. Forward Christian Watford is second in scoring at 12.0 points per game.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: NM State Athletic Dept.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State redshirt senior forward Wendell McKines was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District VIII team, the organization announced.

This is McKines' first all-district honor. He collected first team All-WAC accolades and WAC Player of the Week honors this week. He led the Aggies and WAC in both scoring and rebounding with 18.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. McKines has posted 18 double-doubles this year, which ranks sixth in the nation.

This season, he became the second player in school history to record 1,000-career points and 1,000-career rebounds. He was the second active player in the NCAA (T.J. Robinson, Long Beach State) and 12th player in WAC history to achieve the feat.

Written By: WAC Media Relations

DENVER, CO - New Mexico State’s Wendell McKines has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 27-March 4. The honor marks the second career WAC Player of the Week for McKines.

McKines, a senior forward from Oakland, Calif. (Richmond HS), led the Aggies to a 1-1 road record last week. McKines pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds and scored 20 points in a come-from-behind win at Fresno State in overtime on Saturday. The performance marked his 16th 20-point game of the season. He tied personal-best marks with four made 3-pointers, including three in the overtime period, and eight 3-point attempts. He also recorded his 18th double-double of the season and 45th of his career in the victory at Fresno State. At Nevada on Thursday night, McKines had a team-high 10 points and 13 rebounds.   Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: WAC Media Relations

DENVER, CO – The Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball postseason award winners as selected by the league’s eight head coaches were announced today.

The first team is led by Nevada sophomore Deonte Burton who was also voted the WAC’s Player of the Year. Burton averaged 17.3 points and 4.1 assists in WAC play this season. Hawai‘i’s Vander Joaquim, Nevada’s Olek Czyz, New Mexico State’s Wendell McKines and Utah State’s Preston Medlin were also first team selections.

This year’s all-WAC second team consists of Fresno State’s Kevin Olekaibe, Idaho’s Kyle Barone, Louisiana Tech’s Raheem Appleby, Nevada’s Dario Hunt and New Mexico State’s Hernst Laroche.

Louisiana Tech’s Appleby becomes the first Bulldog player since Paul Millsap (2004) to earn the WAC’s Freshman of the Year award. In 14 conference games, Appleby averaged 15.1 points per contest, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game, while shooting 43.7 percent from the field.

Nevada head coach David Carter earned his first Don Haskins Coach of the Year honor by leading the Wolf Pack to a regular season WAC title. In his third year with Nevada, Carter led the Wolf Pack to a 13-1 conference record.

Those named to the WAC’s all-defensive team were Hawai‘i’s Joaquim, Idaho’s Landon Tatum, Louisiana Tech’s Trevor Gaskins, Nevada’s Jerry Evans Jr and Hunt.

Selected to the WAC’s all-newcomer team were Idaho’s Djim Bandoumel, Louisiana Tech’s Appleby, New Mexico State’s Daniel Mullings, San Jose State’s James Kinney and Utah State’s Kyisean Reed.

The 2012 WAC Tournament will be held March 8-10, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: WAC Media Relations

DENVER, CO - New Mexico State’s Daniel Mullings has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 20-26. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week for Mullings.

Mullings, a freshman guard from Toronto, Ontario (Laurier), became only the third Aggie in school history and 13th player in WAC history to record a triple-double. Mullings scored 28 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out 10 assists, all career high marks, in a 115-73 win over Hawai‘i on Feb. 23. Mullings is the first player to accomplish the feat since 1990 at NM State and only one of 12 players and the lone freshman to achieve a triple-double this season in the NCAA. He also tied a career high with five steals in the game. Mullings also set career-best marks for field goals made (11) and free throw attempts (9). In the home finale, Mullings scored 10 points for his 11th double-figure game of the year in a 79-68 win over San Jose State. He went 3-of-5 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw and tallied five rebounds, four assists and two steals in the win over the Spartans.

On the week, Mullings averaged 19.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 3.5 steals per game. He shot 70.0 percent (14-of-20) from the field and 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from the free throw line.