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FOUR WAC TEAMS TO PARTICIPATE IN POSTSEASON PLAY
Half of the WAC's men's basketball teams will participate in postseason play this year. NM State earned the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and will face Baylor in Tulsa, Okla., at 11:20 a.m. (CT) this Friday, March 17. As WAC regular-season champion, CSU Bakersfield received an automatic berth into the National Invitational Tournament, where it will face California in the first round at 8:15 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday, March 14. Utah Valley travels to Statesboro, Ga., to face Georgia Southern in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) at 7 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, March 15, and UMKC makes its first-ever postseason appearance when it hosts Green Bay Idaho in the CBI at 7 p.m. (CT) Wednesday, March 15.
NM STATE TO FACE BAYLOR IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
WAC Tournament Champion NM State will take on No. 3-seed Baylor in the NCAA Tournament in Tulsa, Okla., at 11:20 a.m. (CT) this Friday, March 17. The Aggies (28-5) enter the tournament as a No. 14 seed and earned the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last six years. This is NM State's 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. NM State takes on Baylor (25-7), a team that earned an at-large bid out of the Big 12 Conference after losing in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament last week. The Bears have the fifth-best strength of schedule in the country. Baylor's No. 3 seed ties the best in program history - BU was also a No. 3 seed in 2010 (Elite Eight), 2012 (Elite Eight) and 2015 (First Round). The Bears are 6-3 all-time as a No. 3 seed. The Aggies are led by WAC Player of the Year and WAC Tournament MVP Ian Baker, who averages 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Braxton Huggins adds 13.6 points per game, while second team All-WAC honoree Eli Chuha averages a 12.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
CSU BAKERSFIELD TO FACE CALIFORNIA IN NIT
CSU Bakersfield received an automatic bid to the NIT and will face No. 1 seed California (21-12) in the first round at 8:15 p.m. (PT) Tuesday, March 14. The game will air on ESPN2. The Roadrunners (22-9) are seeded No. 8 in their region. CSUB is led by first team All-WAC honoree Jaylin Airington, who averages 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, and second team selection Dedrick Basile, who averages 12.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Ranked 18th nationally in scoring defense, the ‘Runners also had three WAC All-Defensive Team honorees in Airington, Moataz Aly and Matt Smith. CSUB fell 70-60 to NM State in the championship game of the WAC Tournament Saturday, but earned an automatic bid to the NIT as the WAC regular-season champion. This is the first NIT appearance for the Roadrunners. It is their third postseason appearance in the last six seasons following an NCAA Tournament first-round appearance in 2016. The ‘Runners are 1-2 all-time against Cal. CSUB won 55-52 in the last meeting on Dec. 28, 2014, which was also in Berkeley. The winner of the game will play the winner of No. 4 seeded Colorado State (23-11) and No. 5 seeded College of Charleston (25-9) in the second round.
UMKC, UTAH VALLEY ACCEPT INVITATIONS TO PLAY IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL
UMKC and Utah Valley have accepted invitations to play in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) presented by FIVE FOUR. The Roos will host Green Bay at 7 p.m. CT Wednesday, March 15, at Swinney Recreation Center on the UMKC campus, while the Wolverines will travel to Statesboro, Ga., to play at Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Hanner Fieldhouse.
This is UMKC's first-ever appearance in a postseason tournament. The Roos are led by first team All-WAC selection LaVell Boyd, who averages 17.9 points per game. UMKC (17-16) advanced to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament, where it fell to eventual champion NM State, 78-60. Green Bay is competing in the CBI for the third time in program history. The third-seeded Phoenix fell in the quarterfinals of Motor City Madness to No. 6 seed UIC. The Phoenix had four players earn All-Horizon League honors, the most in program history. UMKC and Green Bay played on Nov. 21 of this season, with the Phoenix winning 95-77 at the Bill Frack Tournament.
This is Utah Valley's third appearance in a postseason national tournament, as the Wolverines played in the NIT in 2014 and in the CollegeInisder.com Tournament in 2012. Utah Valley enters Wednesday's matchup against Georgia Southern with a 15-16 record. The Wolverines hit the postseason hardwood fresh off a historic quadruple overtime 81-80 setback to CSU Bakersfield in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas. UVU's matchup at Georgia Southern will mark the first time the two teams have met. Georgia Southern features the top two scorers from the Sun Belt Conference in sophomores Ike Smith (19.9) and Tookie Brown (17.4). The team holds an 18-14 overall record and finished Sun Belt play with an 11-7 mark.
NM STATE WINS WAC TOURNAMENT
After defeating seventh-seeded Chicago State 67-53 in the first round and No. 3-seed UMKC 78-60 in the semifinals, NM State rallied in the second half to beat top-seeded CSU Bakersfield 70-60 in the championship game of the 2017 WAC Tournament title game to earn its seventh tournament title Saturday. Eli Chuha posted his WAC-leading 15th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Tournament MVP Ian Baker added 15 points and six assists.
All-Tournament Team
Jaylin Airington, CSU Bakersfield
Dedrick Basile, CSU Bakersfield
Eli Chuha, NM State
Braxton Huggins, NM State
MVP: Ian Baker, NM State
CSU BAKERSFIELD'S AIRINGTON SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT
In the championship game of the WAC Tournament on March 11, CSU Bakersfield senior forward Jaylin Airington scored the first eight Roadrunner points of the second half and earned his 1,000th career point on a three-pointer with 16:22 to go in the second half. Airington became the 12th member of the 1,000-Point Club at CSUB and now has 1,004 points over three seasons.
BOYD BECOMES FIRST UMKC JUCO TRANSFER TO SCORE 1,000 POINTS
In UMKC's quarterfinal game of the WAC Tournament against UT Rio Grande Valley on March 9, senior guard LaVell Boyd drained a three-pointer to tie the score at 43 with 17:20 left in regulation to became the 11th member of the program's 1,000-Point Club. He is the first junior college transfer to achieve the feat. Boyd now has 1,028 career points.
CSU'S PALMER SCORES 1,000TH CAREER POINT
Chicago State senior Trayvon Palmer recorded a game-high 17 points, including the 1,000th of his career, in a quarterfinal loss to NM State at the WAC Tournament on March 9. He connected on a pair of free throws at the 1:50 mark of the second half to become the 13th member of Chicago State's 1,000-Point Club and moved into a tie for ninth place on the program's Division I career scoring list.
NMSU'S WEIR BOASTS BEST RECORD OF FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACHES
NM State head coach Paul Weir currently has a 28-5 mark (.848), the best record of all first year head coaches in NCAA Division I. His record is also second to Tim Jankovich at SMU (30-4, .882) for the best mark of all coaches that are in their first year coaching at their current school. Weir also set the school record for wins in a season, surpassing the 1969-70 Final Four team (27-3) led by legendary Aggie head coach Lou Henson.
CSU BAKERSFIELD WINS FIRST-EVER WAC REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
With its wins over UMKC and Chicago State on Feb. 23 and 25, CSU Bakersfield secured its first-ever outright WAC regular season title in any sport. The Roadrunners earned the No. 1 seed in the WAC Tournament.