“Who?”

That’s right. As of Tuesday, New Mexico State’s leading scorer and second leading assist man said he had never heard of the player with whom he’s likely to match up. He said he had never heard of one of the catalysts on the team that played in last season’s national championship.

Maybe Young really never heard of Lucas — the team had yet to prepare for No. 5-seed MSU, and his coach believed him — but Young’s attitude reflects a confidence the Aggies have going into Friday’s first-round NCAA Tournament matchup in Spokane, Wash. (7:20, CBS).

“We’re supposed to be intimidated,” forward Wendell McKines said. “That’s not the character of anyone on this team or the coaching staff.”

The Aggies have plenty to be confident about. They have won seven of their past nine games, including winning the Mountain West Conference Tournament, where they defeated the conference’s top two seeds.

They also have a complete team.

Due to several off-the-court issues, the Aggies played without some of their best players in stretches during the regular season, but now the team is full, playing its best basketball and ready to take down the Spartans.

“They have a big name. We knew we were going to play a big name,” head coach Marvin Menzies said. “I have a lot of confident guys who are good players. They will have the opportunity to show how good they are.”

After a regular season full of distractions, from suspensions to benchings, the Spartans say they are just ready to get on the court and play basketball.

“We feel like it’s a new season, and this team that we’re about to face is our first opponent, and that’s how we’re approaching it, and that’s how we’re taking things,” senior forward Raymar Morgan said.

MSU comes into the game as the nation’s leader in rebounding margin (plus-9) while the Aggies are giving up 2.1 rebounds per game, so the glass is one area the Spartans will have to control.

“I don’t know if are as tough as them on the glass and well trained,” Menzies said. “It’s definitely (MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo’s) trademark — his ability to get his teams to emphasize the rebounding portion. We don’t do that at the same level he does. They’re one of the best in the country at it.”

The Aggies are led by their guards, Young and Jonathan Gibson, who averaged a combined 38 points per game.

“(They’re a) very athletic team; got two guards who can really fill it up,” Morgan said. “Some really good big men inside who are versatile and can do different things, so we have our hands full. ”

The Spartans are the bigger name with a more-storied basketball history, but McKines knows it took time for MSU to earn respect and said his team is hoping to start a similar story.

“When I think of those types of schools, I think, ‘They had to start from somewhere,’” McKines said As soon as they built the school, they weren’t like, ‘Oh, this is going to be a powerhouse.’ They had to start from somewhere.

“We feel like we’ve got something going here, and we’re starting to make a name for ourselves here.”