# 2015–16 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team

The 2015–16 New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team represented New Mexico State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by ninth year head coach Marvin Menzies, played their home games at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico and were members of the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 23–11, 13–1 in WAC play to win the WAC regular season championship. They defeated UMKC to advance to the championship game of the WAC tournament where they lost to Cal State Bakersfield. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Saint Mary's.
On April 16, 2016, head coach Marvin Menzies left the school to accept the head coaching position at UNLV. On April 26, the school hired Paul Weir, an assistant coach under Menzies, as head coach.

## Previous season

The Aggies finished the 2014–15 season with an overall record 23–11, 13–1 in WAC play to win the regular season WAC championship. They defeated Cal State Bakersfield and Seattle to be champions of the WAC tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the second round to Kansas.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| D. K. Eldridge | 1 | G | 6'2" | 180 | Senior | Dallas, TX | Graduated |
| Remi Barry | 3 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Senior | Paris, France | Graduated |
| Tshilidzi Nephawe | 15 | C | 6'10" | 268 | RS Senior | Johannesburg, South Africa | Graduated |
| Daniel Mullings | 23 | G | 6'2" | 170 | Senior | Toronto, ON | Graduated |
| Aaron Kubinski | 34 | F | 6'5" | 195 | RS Sophomore | Albuquerque, NM | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Anthony January | 44 | F | 6'8" | 200 | Sophomore | Los Angeles, CA | Transferred to Cal State San Bernardino |

## 2015 Recruiting Class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jermaine Haley PG | Burnaby, BC | Sunrise Christian Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jul 14, 2024 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Bollo Gnahore C | Abidjan, Ivory Coast | New Hope Christian Academy | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 260 lb (120 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 New Mexico State Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 02, 2015* 7:00 pm | | Western New Mexico | W 80–39 | | 17 – Siakam | 13 – Chuha | 3 – Baker | Pan American Center (3,813) Las Cruces, NM |
| Regular season |||||||||
| Nov 13, 2015* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Houston Baptist | W 91–69 | 1–0 | 28 – Siakam | 11 – Siakam | 5 – Esparza | Pan American Center (5,130) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 15, 2015* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | New Mexico Rio Grande Rivalry | L 74–83 | 1–1 | 23 – Siakam | 9 – Bhullar | 2 – Baker | Pan American Center (6,796) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 18, 2015* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Tennessee Tech Air Force Classic | W 76–63 | 2–1 | 30 – Siakam | 11 – Siakam | 4 – Siakam | Pan American Center (4,104) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 21, 2015* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Mississippi Valley State Air Force Classic | W 85–46 | 3–1 | 19 – Siakam | 16 – Siakam | 7 – Baker | Pan American Center (4,346) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 24, 2015* 7:30 pm, AggieVision | | Robert Morris Air Force Classic | W 81–71 | 4–1 | 35 – Siakam | 13 – Siakam | 5 – Baker | Pan American Center (4,115) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 28, 2015* 12:00 pm | | at Air Force Air Force Classic | L 64–66 $^{OT}$ | 4–2 | 26 – Siakam | 12 – Siakam | 4 – Baker | Clune Arena (1,034) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Dec 02, 2015* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | UTEP Battle of I-10 | W 73–59 | 5–2 | 24 – Siakam | 23 – Siakam | 4 – Taylor/Browne | Pan American Center (6,303) Las Cruces, NM |
| Dec 05, 2015* 5:00 pm | | at Long Beach State | L 53–67 | 5–3 | 14 – Siakam | 11 – Siakam | 3 – Baker/Taylor | Walter Pyramid (2,376) Long Beach, CA |
| Dec 13, 2015* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Wyoming | L 59–62 | 5–4 | 20 – Baker | 15 – Siakam | 3 – Baker/Taylor | Pan American Center (4,562) Las Cruces, NM |
| Dec 16, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at New Mexico Rio Grande Rivalry | L 61–79 | 5–5 | 21 – Siakam | 9 – Bhullar | 5 – Browne | The Pit (15,362) Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 19, 2015* 7:00 pm, ASN | | at UTEP Battle of I-10 | W 73–53 | 6–5 | 26 – Baker | 10 – Siakam | 8 – Taylor | Don Haskins Center (9,040) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 21, 2015* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Oral Roberts | W 76–61 | 7–5 | 35 – Siakam | 11 – Siakam | 4 – Baker | Pan American Center (4,315) Las Cruces, NM |
| Dec 23, 2015* 6:00 pm | | at Baylor | L 70–85 | 7–6 | 26 – Siakam | 10 – Siakam | 5 – Taylor/Pennie | Ferrell Center (5,842) Waco, TX |
| Dec 30, 2015* 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Arizona Christian | W 81–61 | 8–6 | 28 – Siakam | 10 – Siakam | 4 – Baker/Taylor/Siakam | Pan American Center (4,210) Las Cruces, NM |
| Jan 02, 2016* 8:00 pm | | at UC Irvine | L 52–54 | 8–7 | 17 – Siakam | 10 – Siakam | 6 – Siakam | Bren Events Center (2,866) Irvine, CA |
| Jan 07, 2016 7:00 pm, ASN | | at Utah Valley | W 78–66 | 9–7 (1–0) | 20 – Siakam | 11 – Siakam | 6 – Baker | UCCU Center (3,155) Orem, UT |
| Jan 09, 2016 7:00 pm | | at Grand Canyon | L 75–79 | 9–8 (1–1) | 17 – Siakam | 12 – Siakam | 8 – Baker | GCU Arena (7,413) Phoenix, AZ |
| Jan 14, 2016 7:00 pm, ASN | | UMKC | W 65–64 | 10–8 (2–1) | 16 – Baker | 15 – Siakam | 6 – Taylor | Pan American Center (4,187) Las Cruces, NM |
| Jan 16, 2016 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Chicago State | W 80–62 | 11–8 (3–1) | 21 – Siakam | 13 – Siakam | 5 – Baker | Pan American Center (4,301) Las Cruces, NM |
| Jan 21, 2016 8:00 pm | | at Seattle | W 68–60 | 12–8 (4–1) | 21 – Siakam | 11 – Siakam | 2 – Baker/Pennie/Siakam | KeyArena (1,365) Seattle, WA |
| Jan 23, 2016 8:00 pm | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 68–67 $^{2OT}$ | 13–8 (5–1) | 21 – Siakam | 10 – Baker | 6 – Baker | Icardo Center (3,880) Bakersfield, CA |
| Jan 30, 2016 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 92–68 | 14–8 (6–1) | 24 – Siakam | 16 – Siakam | 5 – Baker | Pan American Center (4,710) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 04, 2016 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Grand Canyon | W 70–50 | 15–8 (7–1) | 17 – Siakam | 16 – Siakam | 4 – Baker | Pan American Center (5,509) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 06, 2016 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Utah Valley | W 98–74 | 16–8 (8–1) | 27 – Siakam | 11 – Siakam | 4 – Siakam | Pan American Center (4,476) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 08, 2016* 7:00 pm | | vs. Northern New Mexico | W 85–54 | 17–8 | 14 – Bhullar | 6 – Siakam/Bhullar | 4 – Ndir | Santa Ana Star Center (2,306) Rio Rancho, NM |
| Feb 13, 2016 1:05 pm | | at Chicago State | W 69–55 | 18–8 (9–1) | 24 – Siakam | 8 – Siakam | 7 – Taylor | Jones Convocation Center (813) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 15, 2015* 6:00 pm | | at Wichita State Postponed from Dec 28, 2015 | L 41–71 | 18–9 | 17 – Siakam | 10 – Siakam | 2 – Taylor | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| Feb 18, 2016 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 63–55 | 19–9 (10–1) | 16 – Baker | 12 – Siakam | 3 – Siakam | Pan American Center (4,550) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 20, 2016 7:00 pm, AggieVision | | Seattle | W 70–57 | 20–9 (11–1) | 22 – Huggins | 18 – Siakam | 4 – Baker | Pan American Center (4,669) Las Cruces, NM |
| Feb 27, 2016 1:00 pm, AggieVision | | at UMKC | W 62–61 | 21–9 (12–1) | 17 – Siakam | 11 – Siakam | 4 – Baker | Municipal Auditorium (2,551) Kansas City, MO |
| Mar 05, 2016 6:00 pm | | at Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 83–44 | 22–9 (13–1) | 24 – Siakam | 10 – Siakam | 6 – Baker | UTRGV Fieldhouse (1,336) Edinburg, TX |
| WAC tournament |||||||||
| Mar 11, 2016 7:00 pm | (1) | vs. (5) UMKC Semifinals | W 78–64 | 23–9 | 20 – Baker | 11 – Siakam | 2 – Baker/Siakam/Wilkins | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| Mar 12, 2016 9:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (2) Cal State Bakersfield Championship game | L 54–57 | 23–10 | 13 – Bhullar | 11 – Bhullar | 3 – Baker | Orleans Arena (1,673) Paradise, NV |
| NIT |||||||||
| Mar 15, 2016* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (7) | (2) Saint Mary's First round – Valparaiso Bracket | L 56–58 | 23–11 | 19 – Siakam | 14 – Siakam | 7 – Baker | McKeon Pavilion (1,154) Moraga, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. |||||||||