Texas Rio Grande Valley (12-14, 7-5) vs. New Mexico State (21-6, 12-0)
Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico; Saturday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: New Mexico State looks for its 31st straight conference win against Texas Rio Grande Valley. Texas Rio Grande Valley's last WAC loss came against the Grand Canyon Antelopes 87-79 on Jan. 30. New Mexico State is coming off an 84-82 win over Utah Valley on Saturday.
TEAM LEADERSHIP: Seniors Lesley Varner II and Jordan Jackson have led the Vaqueros. Varner is averaging 14.4 points and 6.1 rebounds while Jackson is putting up 15.5 points per game. The Aggies have been led by Trevelin Queen and Jabari Rice, who have combined to score 26.7 points per outing.
WAC IMPROVEMENT: The Vaqueros have scored 74.3 points per game and allowed 70.6 points per game against WAC opponents. Those are both solid improvements over the 65.2 points scored and 75.9 points given up per game to non-conference foes.LIKEABLE LESLEY: Varner has connected on 37.8 percent of the 82 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 9 of 15 over the last five games. He's also made 85.6 percent of his free throws this season.
WINLESS WHEN: Texas Rio Grande Valley is 0-8 when scoring fewer than 67 points and 12-6 when scoring at least 67.
STREAK STATS: New Mexico State has won its last nine home games, scoring an average of 76 points while giving up 56.2.
DID YOU KNOW: The Texas Rio Grande Valley defense has forced opponents into turnovers on an impressive 25.1 percent of all possessions, which ranks the Vaqueros ninth among Division I teams. New Mexico State has turned the ball over on 20.6 percent of its possessions (ranking the Aggies 281st, nationally).
