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61ST WESTSTAR DON HASKINS SUN BOWL INVITATIONAL December 19, 2022

EL PASO, Texas – The 61st Annual WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational is set for Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 21-22, in the Don Haskins Center with Kent State (8-3), New Mexico State (6-4), North Carolina A&T (5-6) and UTEP (7-3) participating.

Bradley won the 2021 WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational defeating UTEP in the final, although UTEP has the most WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational tournament wins at 89 while the Miners have won the tournament 32 times, most recently in 2019.

This will be the first time the NM State Aggies have played in the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational since 1961, while Kent State is 4-2 overall in this tournament, while winning it in 1999.

“We couldn’t be anymore excited for this year’s tournament and the competition that we will all get to witness,” said Executive Director Bernie Olivas. “With the Aggies coming to town and the Miners looking to pick up more great quality wins, we are in for some fun and competitive college basketball.”

The Miners are led by junior guard Tae Hardy, junior guard Mario McKinney and sophomore forward Otis Frazier III, while putting up 72.3 points per game as a team while grabbing 34.9 boards per game.

Kent State is putting up 77.5 points per game while pulling in 35.9 rebounds per contest. Kent State also plays tough defense and posts 10.6 steals a game.

North Carolina A&T is scoring 71 points a game and hitting over 33-percent of three pointers attempted. NC A&T grabs 33 rebounds a game and averages just over nine steals per game. NC A&T is led by sophomore guard Kam Woods, junior forward Marcus Watson and senior guard Demetric Horton.

The NM State Aggies are back in the Borderland after a long road trip that spanned over 7,000 miles. The Aggies defeated Northern New Mexico on Sunday night with forward Marchelus Avery getting his first start and tallying a career-high 26 points and eight rebounds. Forward Shakiru Odunewu finished that game with 10 points and 10 rebounds in just 13 minutes of action to post his second career double-double.

Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022
5:30 p.m. – NM State (visitor) vs. Kent State (home)
7:30 p.m. – NC A&T (visitor) vs. UTEP (home)
In the Don Haskins Center

Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022
5:30 p.m. – Consolation Game (loser of game one vs. loser of game two)
7:30 p.m. – Championship Game (winner of game one vs. winner of game two)
In the Don Haskins Center