Karl Benson Press Conference-March 9

2012 Men's Tournament Bracket

WAC Men's Basketball Weekly Release

2012 Men's All-WAC Teams

Men's Championship Game
New Mexico State 82, Louisiana Tech 57
Tournament MVP Wendell McKines had a double-double with five minutes left in the first half as the Aggies claimed their third WAC Tournament title with a dominating 82-57 win over No. 5 Louisiana Tech. The 25-point win was the largest margin of victory in a championship game in WAC Tournament history. McKines finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Trevor Gaskins led the Bulldogs with 24 points.

All-Tournament Team
Trevor Gaskins, Louisiana Tech
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech
Tyrone Watson, New Mexico State
Hernst Laroche, New Mexico State

MVP: Wendell McKines, New Mexico State

Men's Semifinal Games
New Mexico State 92, Hawai‘i 81
Second-seeded New Mexico State defeated No. 6 Hawa‘i 92-81 in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament Friday. The Aggies jumped out to a 17-0 lead and led by as many as 20 in the first half before the Rainbow Warriors made it a one point game midway through the second half. Wendell McKines led all players with 22 points as one of five Aggies in double-digit scoring. Shaquille Stokes paced Hawai‘i with 21 points.

Louisiana Tech 78, Nevada 73
No. 5 Louisiana Tech knocked off top-seeded Nevada 78-73 in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament Friday. With the win, the Bulldogs advance to the championship game on Saturday. Trevor Gaskins led Louisiana Tech with 21 points, while Raheem Appleby added 17 and Ramario Souza had 16. Malik Story also scored 21 points.

Men's Quarterfinal Games
Hawai‘i 72, Idaho 70
Hanns Brereton hit a baseline jumper with three seconds left to give sixth-seeded Hawai‘i a 72-70 win over No. 3 Idaho in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament Thursday. Brereton finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Vander Joaquim scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed 13 boards. Kyle Barone led Idaho with 19 points. The Rainbow Warriors now advance to the semifinals on Friday against the winner of the Fresno State-New Mexico State game.

New Mexico State 65, Fresno State 49
Wendell McKines posted his 19th double-double of the season to lead the second-seeded Aggies to a 65-49 win over No. 7 Fresno State in the second game. McKines finished with game highs of 15 points and 13 rebounds as NM State out-rebounded the Bulldogs 46-29. Kevin Foster led Fresno State with 14 points.

Nevada 54, San Jose State 44
After tying the WAC Tournament record for fewest points in a half with 13 in the first half, top-seeded Nevada outscored No. 8 San Jose State 41-30 in the second half en route to a 54-44 quarterfinal win. WAC Player of the Year Deonte Burton led Nevada with 16 points. The Spartans' Wil Carter led all players with 18 points.

Louisiana Tech 72, Utah State 70
Four players scored in double digits as fifth-seeded Louisiana Tech knocked off No. 4 Utah State 72-70 in the final quarterfinal game Thursday. Romario Souza and Trevor Gaskins scored 16 points each, while Brandon Gibson and Raheem Appleby had 13 apiece.