Baylor has been upset in the first round in each of the last two years of the tournament. They'll try to end that streak as they take on New Mexico State. Both teams are above-average rebounding teams, hauling in nearly 55% of available rebounds. If the 14-seeded New Mexico State is going to pull off the upset, the rebounding battle will likely play a large role.
Below are three players to keep an eye on from each team.
| Player | Team | PPG | RPG | eFG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnathan Motley | Baylor | 17.3 | 9.9 | 0.528 |
| Manu Lecomte | Baylor | 12.4 | 1.9 | 0.563 |
| Jo Acuil | Baylor | 9.2 | 7.0 | 0.560 |
| Ian Baker | New Mexico St. | 16.6 | 4.3 | 0.469 |
| Braxton Huggins | New Mexico St. | 13.6 | 2.7 | 0.571 |
| Eli Chuha | New Mexico St. | 12.4 | 9.0 | 0.611 |
Here is a quick breakdown of the team stats comparison.
| Team | nERD | O Rtg | eFG% | Reb% | TOV% | D Rtg | Opp. eFG% | Opp. TOV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #3 Baylor | 16.61 | 112.0 | 0.532 | 56.6 | 17.4 | 96.6 | 0.453 | 15.0 |
| #14 NM St. | 5.08 | 112.4 | 0.532 | 54.7 | 16.7 | 95.7 | 0.463 | 17.1 |