New Mexico St. beats Abilene Christian 66-52, win WAC
The Aggies won their 10th WAC title overall, their first since 2019
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Clayton Henry had 15 points and eight rebounds to help New Mexico State beat Abilene Christian 66-52 on Saturday night in the championship game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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Sir’Jabari Rice scored 11 points for New Mexico State (26-6). Teddy Allen and Mario McKinney Jr. added 10 points apiece.
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The Aggies won their 10th WAC title overall, their first since 2019.
Henry hit a 3 and Allen made three free throws after he was fouled on a shot from behind the arc before Rice capped a 9-0 spurt with a 3-pointer that made it 14-10 about 6 minutes into the game, and the Aggies led the rest of the way.
Coryon Mason led Abilene Christian (23-9) with 14 points. Airion Simmons and Mahki Morris scored 12 apiece.
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The Wildcats had their five-game win streak snapped. Abilene Christian, the No. 6 seed, beat seventh-seeded Utah Valley in the first round before knocking off No. 3 seed Stephen F. Austin in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Seattle in the semis.
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Rice hit a 3-pointer and added two free throws to spark a 10-2 run that made it 44-30 with 13:56 to play. Mason made two foul shots to trim the deficit to nine, but Johnny McCants hit a jumper to make it 49-38 with 9:41 left and the Aggies led by double figures the rest of the way.