Luettgerodt unhappy with lopsided loss

By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

LAS CRUCES, N.M. » Even though he had just put up a career-high point total, Riley Luettgerodt found little satisfaction in the accomplishment.

The lack of practice time that hampered Hawaii entering last night's game at New Mexico State didn't seem to bother Luettgerodt's shooting stroke. The senior swingman finished with a career-high 26 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including a career-best four 3-pointers.

But Luettgerodt's mind was more on the numbers on the scoreboard following the Rainbows' 106-71 loss to the Aggies at the Pan American Center.

"None of that matters," Luettgerodt said of his milestone. "We just got beat by 37. Five or 10 years later in life I'm not going to remember a career high here, I'm going to remember getting beat by 37 or whatever it is."

The spread was actually 35, but 37 was key number last night as NMSU forward Justin Hawkins hit that figure to set a new career best as well.

Hawaii's travel troubles kept the Rainbows from practicing Friday or going through their normal pregame shootaround yesterday. But Luettgerodt got hot early, hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer in the opening moments, and went into halftime with 15 points.

Luettgerodt's previous high was 23 against Long Beach State last season. He scored 20 points on two other occasions this season.

WAC tourney set

With the regular-season ending last night, the bracket for the WAC tournament is set.

There was a four-way tie for the regular-season title, but tiebreakers gave Utah State the top seed, followed by Nevada, NMSU and Boise State.

Louisiana Tech and San Jose State open the tournament in the first-round game on Tuesday. Thursday's quarterfinal pairings are Utah State-LaTech/SJSU winner, Nevada-Fresno State, New Mexico State-Idaho and Boise State-Hawaii. The All-WAC teams will be announced today.

Not so enchanting

The Land of Enchantment hasn't been kind to Hawaii this season.

Both of UH's most lopsided losses came in New Mexico. Prior to last night's game, the Rainbows' largest margin of defeat was a 29-point loss at New Mexico in Albuquerque on Nov. 21.