The New Mexico State Aggies lived up to their billing as the best team in the Western Athletic Conference, beating the Seattle Redhawks 80-61 in the 2015 WAC Tournament Final at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, earning an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
It is the fourth consecutive NCAA bid for New Mexico State and fifth tourney trip in the last six years, all under head coach Marvin Menzies.
New Mexico State started the game on a 9-0 run, led by as many as 13 points in the first half and never looked back.
Senior forward Remi Barry paced New Mexico State with 21 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Tshilidzi Nephawe had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Aggies, who shot 52.5 percent on the night and outrebounded the Redhawks, 26-20.
Seattle senior guard Isiah Umipig, who tied a conference tournament record with eight three-pointers in the Redhawks' semifinal win over Missouri-Kansas City in the semifinal round on Friday, was held to 13 points on just 2-of-7 shooting on Saturday.
William Powell led Seattle (16-15) with 14 points and eight rebounds in defeat before fouling out with 3:17 to play.
The Aggies rolled through the regular season at 13-1 in the WAC, with their only conference loss coming Jan. 17 at Seattle. But that was the last loss for New Mexico State (23-10), which enters the tournament on a 13-game winning streak.
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