LAS CRUCES — Have you heard the one about the Aggies and the Western Athletic Conference?

It’s no joke.

It’s league time baby, and that translates to Aggie Time — New Mexico State style.

The NMSU men’s basketball team continued the 2012-13 version of its annual midseason tear on Thursday night with a 64-51 smack-down of league-leading Utah State (14-2, 5-1) in a matchup of Aggies.

The win was New Mexico State’s fifth straight and snapped Utah State’s 13-game winning streak.

NMSU (11-8, 5-2) is showing signs it might be making another NCAA Tournament run, similar to those in 2010 and 2012.

“It’s definitely a plus, especially for the younger guys,” NMSU senior Tyrone Watson said of the success of the past few years. “They might be down and out, but the older guys kind of shed some light on them, because we’ve been in similar positions before. In fact, all four seasons we’ve been clicking around this time, so we tell them, ‘keep grinding, keep fighting.’”

After a plodding first half by both teams that probably led to a few wise-cracks, NMSU cut loose in eye-catching style. It cranked up its fast break while tormenting the UtAgs defensively on the way to a 21-point lead.

A barrage of late USU 3s — one with 2.5 seconds left — made it respectable, but never close.

“I’m very pleased with our defensive effort, more than anything,” said NMSU coach Marvin Menzies. “We never really let them get in a rhythm, which was a credit to our defense.

“I feel fortunate to come out of this game victorious, based on the momentum that we’ve had. You’re always concerned with, ‘when is there going to be a dip?’ It’s tough to continuously get better and better and better every game until the end of the season. There is usually a side-step there. But we haven’t had it yet, so let’s postpone it until next season.”

The Utags started 4 of 20 from the floor — and junior guard Preston Medlin was 3-for-6 in that span. It got a tad better for USU in the final five minutes of the opening half, but even Jarred Shaw’s 3-pointer with one second left in the period could only trim New Mexico State’s lead to 23-18.

NMSU senior Bandja Sy scored six points in the first four minutes of the second half while sophomore guard K.C. Ross-Miller hit back-to-back jumpers — the second a 3-pointer — to make it 34-22.

Then it was time for an offensive show that including a trio of slams. NMSU was 16-of-23 in the second half (69.6 percent) and 26-of-45 for the game (57.8 percent) from the floor.

“That was beautiful,” Watson said with a grin. “… We had the fan support (7,119). The (students) came back from Christmas break, and that was a motivational boost.”

NMSU sophomore guard Daniel Mullings, who had 12 points and six rebounds, said it was a matter of “getting back to basics. We like to get out and run, and we’ve got a lot of advantages on this end when you’ve got Bandja running, as well as myself and even this old man, Tyrone. When we get running, we start clicking and it just looks good.”

The Aggies led 56-35 before USU hit back-to-back 3s. But NMSU then drained most of the 35-second shot clock on each possession before scoring.

“I’ve said it repeatedly that this is not a complicated game; you have to do certain fundamentally sound things night-in and night-out in order to give your talent a chance to win,” Menzies said.

“Coaching, Xs and Os, you can steal a few buckets that way, but at the end of the day, I’ll take the talent. And I felt like earlier in the season we had the physical gifts, but we weren’t repeatedly doing things fundamentally.”

Sy had a game-high 16 points and seven rebounds while Watson had 12 points and six boards. Ross-Miller added 10 points and 7-foot-5 freshman center Sim Bhullar had five points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

Medlin led the UtAgs with 14 points.

COLEMAN: Guard Emery Coleman, a freshman from Tularosa, has been suspended indefinitely and was not on the bench Thursday. He has been charged in a Jan. 5 car wreck that killed an 85-year-old Alamogordo man. Alamogordo police say Coleman was using his cellphone to send a text message at the time of the crash.

Coleman has been released on his own recognizance on a $5,000 unsecured bond pending a Jan. 30 court hearing. He has played 12 minutes over three games this season.

NEW MEXICO ST. 64, UTAH ST. 51

UTAH ST. (14-2)

Butterfield 2-4 0-0 5, Reed 3-8 0-0 6, Shaw 5-12 0-1 11, Davis 1-7 0-0 2, Medlin 6-10 0-0 14, Clifford 1-2 0-0 3, Lopez 2-5 1-2 5, Jean 0-3 0-0 0, Roland 2-4 0-1 5, Stone 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 1-4 51.

NEW MEXICO ST. (11-8)

Sy 7-9 2-2 16, Watson 5-11 2-4 12, Bhullar 2-3 1-4 5, Ross-Miller 4-6 1-1 10, Mullings 5-10 2-3 12, Barry 0-0 0-0 0, Aronis 1-2 0-0 3, de Rouen 0-1 0-0 0, Dixon 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 26-45 10-16 64.

Halftime—New Mexico St. 23-18. 3-Point Goals—Utah St. 6-14 (Medlin 2-6, Roland 1-1, Shaw 1-1, Butterfield 1-2, Clifford 1-2, Davis 0-2), New Mexico St. 2-8 (Aronis 1-2, Ross-Miller 1-2, Mullings 0-1, de Rouen 0-1, Sy 0-1, Dixon 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Utah St. 26 (Butterfield, Shaw 4), New Mexico St. 33 (Bhullar, Sy 7). Assists—Utah St. 9 (Reed 3), New Mexico St. 11 (Mullings, Ross-Miller 3). Total Fouls—Utah St. 15, New Mexico St. 10. A—7,119.