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NMSU among favorites to win
WAC MEN’S TOURNAMENT LAS CRUCES – New Mexico State opens defense of its Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament title today in a quarterfinal game against Idaho.
Here are some storylines to watch in Las Vegas, Nev., this week, with March Madness officially here. ♦ Defending the crown: The No. 3-seeded Aggies are once again peaking at tournament time. Coach Marvin Menzies is 10-3 in the WAC tournament and seeking his third NCAA Tournament appearance in four years.
But defending the title won’t be easy. Only four teams have won back-to-back tournament titles, with Hawaii the last to do so in 2001-02. In fact, since NMSU joined the WAC in 2005-06, only Utah State made the final the year after winning the tournament, losing to NMSU in the 2010 championship game.
“Maybe it’s because they might not come in with the focus they came in the year prior to (winning a title),” New Mexico State sophomore guard Daniel Mullings said. “It may be that other teams made them an emphasis, not wanting them to win the championship the next year.”
Mullings, seniors Bandja Sy and Tyrone Watson, and junior Renaldo Dixon were on last year’s WAC tournament team.
“It brings a little more experience to the new guys,” Mullings said. “Tyrone, Bandja, myself and Renaldo being there and being around the tournament atmosphere knowing that it’s different from any game we played this year.”
Watson was an All-WAC tournament selection last season as a junior. Menzies said Watson’s status for today is still up in the air after he injured his left ankle last weekend.
“It was a pretty severe sprain,” Menzies said.
♦ The contenders: There are three clear favorites. Top-seeded Louisiana Tech and No. 2 Denver tied for the regular-season championship at 16-2 in WAC play. The Bulldogs and Pioneers split with each other and with New Mexico State. The styles of the three favorites couldn’t be more different. Louisiana Tech leads the league in points per game (73.5), Denver ranks No. 1 in the league in points against per game (55.1), and NMSU is the most athletic team with the most size, capable of playing fast or slow.
♦ The sleepers: No. 6 Idaho lost both games to No. 3 NMSU by a combined three points, showing that the Vandals are capable of beating their first-round opponent and giving coach Don Verlin his first WAC tournament victory at the school. Fifth-seeded Utah State has suffered injuries and will be tested in the quarterfinals against Texas-Arlington, but perhaps USU coach Stew Morrill can lead his team on another tournament run. Texas State boasts the league’s leading scorer in Joel Wright, and it sometimes can take just one hot player to carry a lower seed to an upset win or two come tourney time.
♦ Intriguing quarterfinal matchups: No. 4-seeded UT-Arlington swept Utah State and nearly beat NMSU at the Pan Am on Saturday. UTA won seven of its past nine league games, and its pressing style could make life difficult for Utah State, which is short-handed because of injuries. An individual matchup to watch today is Idaho center Kyle Barone vs. NMSU’s 7-foot-5 center, Sim Bhullar. Barone led the WAC in scoring and rebounding in conference play and was named the WAC Player of the Year. Bhullar was the league’s Newcomer of the Year.
“(Barone) is a good matchup for me,” Bhullar said. “I’m just going to try and do my best on him, always know where he is on the rebounding because he gets a lot of put-backs. He’s active on the glass. I’m just going to try to be physical with him and take him away from his game.”
♦ Last look at WAC as we know it: It’s unclear where next year’s tournament will be or even what format the tournament will follow. NMSU and Idaho are the only current teams that will return to the WAC next season as the other eight programs head for more established conferences. This is the third year the Orleans Arena has hosted the tournament and, while the Orleans enjoys hosting the event, more costs have fallen on the WAC as the tournament has progressed in Las Vegas. Average attendance dropped from 3,518 in 2011 to 1,870 last year, as total attendance was cut almost in half from 14,075 to 7,482.
Coaches will always want a neutral-site tournament, but league athletic directors must decide when they meet later this spring whether paying for a near-empty arena is better than moving the tournament back to campus sites.
Today
WAC men’s tournament quarterfinal, Las Vegas, Nev.: No. 3 NMSU vs. No. 6 Idaho, 1 p.m., 101.7 FM
— This article appeared on page D2 of the Albuquerque Journal
