NMSU confident going into tournament vs. Clemson
LAS CRUCES — New Mexico State coach Chris Jans didn’t promise any wins in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
But he promised the Aggies would be a tough out.
Making their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the past seven seasons, the Aggies were selected as the No. 12 seed for the Midwest Regional on Sunday and will take on No. 5 seed Clemson in San Diego on Friday in the first round.
The Aggies clinched the NCAA Tournament berth, their 21st in program history, with a 72-58 win over Grand Canyon in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nev.
“I think we are heading into the tournament with a lot of confidence,” Jans said. “I think we’re playing as well as we have all year long, which is, obviously, what any coach in America shoots for. We’re playing a team out on the West Coast that has to travel from the East Coast. It won’t be a partisan crowd for them for sure. We have played well in every big platform that we have played
on. We played great on the platform at the Orleans [Arena in the WAC Tournament] when the stakes were high, played awfully well in Chicago at the
United Center [in a win over Illinois] and certainly in Hawaii, we played some of our best basketball.
“I see no reason why these kids won’t rise to the level of play that is required to win games in the tournament.”
The winner of the NMSU-Clemson game will face the winner of No. 4 Auburn and No. 13 College of Charleston in the second round on Sunday.
The Aggies already have a win over an Atlantic Coast Conference team, Miami, this year. Miami is a No. 6 seed in the tournament. NMSU also has a win over Davidson, a No. 12 seed, in this year’s tourney.
“We’re ready,” NMSU sophomore guard AJ Harris said. “We’re really ready. We’re going to be prepared and Coach Jans is going to have us prepared. We’ll be ready. It doesn’t matter what name is on that jersey. We are going to come out there, compete and give it all that we got.”
NMSU (28-5) will be looking for its first NCAA Tournament win since 1993 and have lost 10 straight NCAA Tournament games since its last win in the tournament.
The 12 seed is the highest NMSU has received since 2010 when it was also a 12 seed. The Aggies are 2-2 as a No. 12 seed, including going to the Sweet 16 as No. 12 seed in 1992.
Jans did not know much about Clemson on Sunday, but, obviously, the work on scouting the Tigers begins right away. Clemson is 23-9 overall and finished third in the ACC at 11-7.
Like NMSU, Clemson is a good defensive team, ranking 29th in the country in points allowed at 65.8 points per game.
The Tigers lost one of their top players, Donte Grantham, to a ACL injury in January. He was averaging 14.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
“We’re really excited,” Harris said. “This is what we have been practicing for and what we have been playing for is getting to this tournament and see what we can do in this tournament. All I am saying is we are just going to compete, play hard and play with heart.”
Jans became the third coach in NMSU history take the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament in his first season, joining Paul Weir last season and Lou Henson in 1968.
Jans has made deep runs in the NCAA Tournament as an assistant at Wichita State and will make his NCAA Tournament head-coaching debut on Friday.
“I think we are in a good spot,” Jans said. “We have a lot confidence, our bodies are pretty healthy and I think our mental fatigue is pretty good. I’ll continue to say it: Whoever beats this team, they’re going to have to knock them out because this team has developed a toughness about them.”
Geographically, NMSU is the closest of the Midwest Regional teams to San Diego. NMSU Director of Athletics Mario Moccia thinks the Aggies could have a tremendous crowd in attendance.
“If you can stay in the west, I think that’s great,” NMSU Director of Athletics Mario Moccia said. “We have a ton of alums in Arizona and they can drive over. We have a lot of alums in Southern California and they are right there. I think a lot of New Mexicans can find their way to San Diego pretty easy. We have a chance to have a great crowd out there.”