NEW YORK -- San Diego State got its first taste of playing in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. But after losing to Baylor 76-62 the Aztecs refused to blame the storied arena for an off-night of shooting.

"A gym is a gym," SDSU forward Lorrenzo Wade said. "I know Madison Square Garden is a very historic place, but once the ball goes up in the air, you lose your pregame jitters and you go about your business."

But the Aztecs' business of playing basketball is temporarily out of business.

The season ended in a crush of poor shooting and poor ball-handling, with the Bears cruising to an easy victory thanks to an impressive second half.

"We just weren't good enough," SDSU coach Steve Fisher said.

The Aztecs (26-10) had trouble punching holes in the Bears' 2-3 zone. With guard Richie Williams not scoring a point by missing all seven field-goal attempts and the team shooting 38 percent overall, the Aztecs were cooked.

"Watching film we didn't (think) much of (their) shooters," Baylor's Curtis Jerrells said. "If you can't penetrate the zone, and if those guys are not exceptional shooters -- with the exception of (Kyle) Spain -- it makes it tougher for guys to get something going."

The Aztecs are going, going, gone. But their most successful season in history is history mostly because of Baylor's exceptional play -- 52 percent on field goals and 50 percent on three-point attempts.

"It's tough to beat a team when they are shooting the basketball like that," Wade said.

Jerrells scored 25 points and LaceDarius Dunn had 23 as a remarkable senior class carried the Bears (24-14) into the NIT championship game against Penn State, a winner in the other semifinal over Notre Dame.

Senior Kevin Rogers added 14 points for Baylor, which has won seven of its last eight games and matched the 1947-48 team that lost in the national championship game for the second-most wins in school history.

"I can almost say I'd rather be here, coming to New York, playing for a championship, than to make it to the NCAA tournament and maybe lose right away," Jerrells said.

The Aztecs were hoping to play on after thumping Weber State, Kansas State and Saint Mary's in the lead-up to the NIT final four.

But it couldn't contain Jerrells and Dunn in various parts of the game.

"Jerrells in the first half and Dunn in the second half were both hot, and they did what they had to do," said Fisher, who 20 years ago was leading Michigan to the national championship. "We just committed way too many turnovers and we're disappointed with that, but I'm really proud of this team."

The Aztecs and their own senior-laden bunch did their best to ruin things for Baylor early, going on a 13-3 first-half run and briefly taking the lead on D.J. Gay's basket with 1:12 left. But the elusive Jerrells got free on the perimeter and was fouled, making two of three free throws to give Baylor a 35-34 lead at the break -- the first time the Aztecs trailed at halftime in the NIT.

The Bears pushed the lead to 55-42 early in the second half on the strength of their 3-point shooting, with Dunn hitting three of them on five trips down floor.

San Diego State mounted its only rally of the second half with five straight points that cut the lead to 55-47. A few moments later, Billy White's basket off a turnover made it 57-51.

But the Bears were too athletic and too quick.

Tweety Carter hit a 3-pointer to kickoff an 8-0 spurt, Jerrells finished a three-point play after slashing to the rim, and even big Josh Lomers put down a dunk to make it 72-55 with 2 1/2 minutes left, bringing the folks wearing green and gold sprinkled throughout Madison Square Garden to their feet.

Kyle Spain scored 18 points to lead San Diego State(26-10), which long ago set a school record for wins in a season. The only No. 1 seed remaining won more games in this tournament than it had in its previous nine postseason appearances combined, but were done in by 19 turnovers.

"I'm going to say Baylor had a lot to do with it," Fisher said of the Bears' defensive pressure. "It wasn't all our casualness and unforced turnovers. Some of it was, but Baylor had a lot to do with those 19 turnovers and they had everything to do with what they did with it; they scored a lot of points (15) off our turnovers."

Now that the season has turned over, the Aztecs anticipate big things in the future.

The exposure of reaching the NIT final four -- and playing in fabled Madison Square Garden -- is a plus.

"It raises expectations for those that are returning and those that are coming in," Fisher said.

Wade agreed.

"Not only are people going to expect San Diego State to do well, but it's going to bring more athletes to San Diego State to participate in this program."