LAS VEGAS (AP) — New Mexico State got the perfect scouting report of what was needed to slow down Fresno State less than a week ago when the Bulldogs took the Aggies to overtime.

The solution was based at the defensive end, and Thursday in the Western Athletic Conference quarterfinals, the Aggies were as good as they've been all season.

"We practice defense every day, and our defense is our first offense," New Mexico State's Tyrone Watson said. "We've been doing a good job scouting."

Wendell McKines scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Watson added 13 points and New Mexico State relied on its defense to pull away for a 65-49 victory over Fresno State in the quarters.

The regular-season runners-up in the WAC made easy work of the Bulldogs less than a week after needing a late rally to force overtime and beat Fresno State 83-78 in California.

It wasn't a very pretty offensive performance by the second-seeded Aggies. But they made up for it by holding the seventh-seeded Bulldogs to 19 first-half points and 31 percent shooting for the game.

The 49 points matched the fewest allowed this season by the Aggies — a mark set in November against Central Michigan — and continued a run of holding seven of the last nine opponents under 70 points.

"You have to tip your hat to the way they attacked the mental approach of the game," said New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies, who picked up his 100th win with the Aggies. "I thought we were very even keel and had the right mental approach as the game unfolded. In this kind of format you have to rely on your upperclassmen to lead the way."

McKines, the Aggies' all-conference leader, was just 3 of 15 shooting and only 1 of 8 on 3-point attempts, but his rebounding led a huge advantage. NMSU outrebounded the Bulldogs 46-30 and had a 24-10 edge in second-chance points. NMSU also outscored the Bulldogs 25-13 at the free throw line.

Daniel Mullings added 11 points, including a highlight dunk over Fresno State's Kevin Foster in the closing moments. Each of the seven Aggies who played scored at least five points.

The Aggies (24-9) will face sixth-seeded Hawaii in the semifinals on Friday night. The teams split their matchups in the regular season, with New Mexico State winning by 42 at home Feb. 23.

Foster led Fresno State (13-20) with 14 points. Kevin Olekaibe added 13 but was just 4 of 16 shooting and 1 of 8 on 3-pointers. Finding where Olekaibe was on the floor was one of Menzies' biggest points of emphasis after the Bulldogs' leading scorer had 23 points and hit five 3-pointers on Saturday. The task of monitoring Olekaibe was a team effort but fell mostly to 6-foot-8 forward Bandja Sy.

"We did tweak what we were doing the last couple of times that we played them," Menzies said. "We did a good job as far as the scouting report.

"It's a matter of do or die. When you get into those situations, you've got to do whatever you need to do to stop the guy."

Steven Shepp added 10 points for the Bulldogs, who finished a difficult first season under coach Rodney Terry. The Bulldogs did not beat a conference opponent after Feb. 4 but lost three times in conference in overtime over the final month.

"I'm excited about where we are now, and I'm excited about our future," Terry said. "We didn't have a lot of depth this year.

"I thought we got better as the season went on both offensively and defensively. I'm excited about the guys we've signed to this point. Our foundation has been laid."

___

Follow Tim Booth on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ByTimBooth