LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The way Jaycee Carroll looks at it, he lost a personal battle to Boise State's Matt Bauscher by three points Friday night, and because of it, the Aggies dropped a 88-78 decision to the Broncos in the Western Athletic Conference semifinals.

Carroll led the Aggies with 20 points, while Bauscher, who didn't score a point in the Aggies' victory over the Broncos eight days ago, had 23 for the Broncos.

"I did a poor job on the defensive end. I started out on Bauscher, and he was 8-for-10 (from the field)," Carroll said. "I know that I'll get shots and that our team will make shots, and defensively I did a poor job on him and let him get going."

Carroll connected on 7-of-17 shots, including 6-of-12 from the 3-point line, but Bauscher overshadowed the league's leading scorer by hitting 5-of-6 from downtown.

"I've scored a lot of points in my career, but more than anything I was hurting my team by not playing good defense," Carroll said.

NEWBOLD IN THE PAN AM: In three career games at New Mexico State's Pan American Center, freshman guard Tyler Newbold is averaging 18.3 points while hitting 18-of-24 from the field and 14- of-19 from the 3-point line.

"I have shot it well here, but I really have confidence that I can knock them down anywhere," he said. "It just so happens here I was able to hit most of them. It's a credit to our team for getting myself open and finding me."

DOWNTOWN: The Aggies tied a season-high with 11 3-pointers. Utah State also had 11 in its 87-65 victory over Utah Valley in the first round of the Gossner Foods Classic in December.

MOVING ON UP: With 20 points Friday night, Carroll became the 58th player in NCAA history to surpass 2,500 points in a career. He has 2,507 points and is 35 points behind Utah's Keith Van Horn, who finished his career with 2,542 points, for the most points scored by a player playing in the Beehive State.

POINTS, POINTS: The 88 points Utah State allowed to Boise Stateare the second-most it has allowed this season. The Aggies gave up 100 to New Mexico State in the same building on Jan. 26. Utah State also gave up 85 in a loss to Nevada and 80 in a win over Hawaii.

SO MUCH FOR THE SWEEP: The Aggies had won 10 of their last 11 games postseason games when they played a team they swept in the regular season before losing to the Broncos.

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