LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Years from now, the statistics will stand. A career-high 26 points for Riley Luettgerodt last night for the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team.

But that's not the number he said he is going to remember. Instead, the 106-71 loss at New Mexico State is what stands out in his mind.

"Doesn't really matter," he said of his performance. "We just got beat by (35). Five, 10 years later in life, I'm not going to remember my career-high here. I'm going to remember getting beat by (35)."

Still, it could have been worse if not for Luettgerodt's no-quit game.

The 6-foot-5 senior guard shot 10 of 17 from the field, including a career-best 4 of 6 from 3-point range. He scored 15 in the second half, when the game was already decided.

"We were down, but I had kind of a good rhythm and I wanted to be aggressive," he said.

Luettgerodt also played a team-high 36 minutes, despite a long morning of travel yesterday for the 'Bows to get from Dallas to Las Cruces. The team arrived in Las Cruces around five hours before tip-off.

"We got a couple shots in warm-ups and just played," Luettgerodt said.

Although Hawai'i is on a six-game losing streak, Luettgerodt has been solid of late. He is averaging 18.7 points per game in his last three games, and leads the team with 4.9 rebounds per game.

HUGE DIFFERENCE

Can the difference between Honolulu and Las Cruces be worth 58 points?

On Jan. 31, Hawai'i beat New Mexico State, 94-71. The Aggies said that loss at Hawai'i was a turning point in their season. They have since won eight of nine games.

"We ended up crumbling and taking it out on each other," senior Fred Peete said. "It was a learning experience. It set us up for the upcoming games."

SENIOR SENDOFF

New Mexico State started its five seniors last night, including a first start of the season for Trei Steward.

The seniors were also on the court together in the closing minutes so they could receive an ovation from the crowd.

Senior forward Justin Hawkins joked that the main reason for last night's performance was "the starting lineup."

WACKY WAC

Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico State and Utah State all finished with 12-4 records and will share the WAC regular-season title. It is the first time in WAC history that as many as four teams were tied at the top.

Utah State received the No. 1 seed for this week's WAC Tournament based on tie breakers.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.