No. 1 New Mexico State 57, No. 4 Bakersfield 53
LAS VEGAS - No. 1 New Mexico State won its 12th straight game, defeating No. 4 Bakersfield 57-53 to advance to the championship game at 8 p.m. (PT) Saturday.
The Aggies were led by Tshilidzi Nephawe's19 points and 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, while Pascal Siakam recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Teammate Daniel Mullings added 14 points to move into fourth place on the NM State career scoring list with 1,662 points.
Aly Ahmed led Bakersfield with 22 points and six rebounds.