Federal Way will have a presence in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Federal Way High School graduate Earnest “Pooh” Williams and his Utah State Aggies teammates won the Western Athletic Conference Tournament to earn an automatic bid Saturday night with a win over Nevada.

The Aggies will take on the Marquette Golden Eagles at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning at the Taco Bell Arena in Boise. Utah State is the 11th-seed in the West region and enters the tournament with an impressive 30-4 record. The Golden Eagles (24-9) earned the sixth seed in the West region after finishing fifth in the rugged Big East with a 12-6 league record.

Marquette lost to Villanova at the Big East Tournament Thursday on a buzzer-beating layup, 76-75.

Utah State also won the Western Athletic Conference regular season title with a 14-2 record.

Williams finished with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists during Utah State’s 72-62 win over Nevada in the WAC Tournament championship game Saturday in Reno. Utah State also beat Fresno State and New Mexico State during the WAC Tournament.

The 6-foot-3 guard has started 30 of the Aggies’ 34 games this season and is averaging 6.0 points and shooting 39 percent from behind the 3-point line.