MORAGA, Calif. – It's a battle of conference champions for the opening round of the 2016 National Invitation Tournament as the Western Athletic Conference Champion NM State Aggies (23-10, 13-1) visit McKeon Pavilion to face West Coast Conference Champion Saint Mary's (27-5, 15-3) on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. MDT. The Aggies fell to CSU Bakersfield 57-54 in the WAC Tournament final on Saturday, while SMC dropped an 85-75 decision to Gonzaga in the WCC final last Tuesday, both at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
THE NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT: The 2016 NIT features 22 teams with at least 20 wins, a record 15 automatic qualifiers and representation from 24 of the 32 Division I conferences.