NMSU beats Chicago State to advance to WAC semis

The NMSU Aggies shook off a slow start in the WAC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday to beat Chicago State by a final of 67 to 53, earning a spot in the tourney semifinals against UMKC.

Ian Baker led NMSU with 15 points while Braxton Huggins scored 14 of his own. Eli Chuha also posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds on the night.

Chicago State jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead, but NMSU outscored the Cougars by 22 the rest of the way.

NMSU dominated Chicago State during the regular season and even beat the Cougars by 35 in the last meeting, so the 10-2 deficit came as a surprise to the Aggie faithful who made the trip to Las Vegas.

With the win the Aggies improved to 26-5 on the year and 12-3 against WAC competition.

UMKC is the next opponent for the Aggies. The two teams will tip-off at 9:30 p.m. MT on Friday with the winner booking a trip to the conference tournament championship game.

UMKC needed overtime to beat UTRGV, which hit a half court shot at the buzzer in regulation to force overtime.