New Mexico (15-4, 1-2 MWC)
turned the ball over 21 times – 11 in the second half – and UNLV
(18-3, 2-1)
had 11 steals for the game and out-scored the Lobos an amazing
26-0 on fast
breaks to literally run to the team’s 14th win in the city of Las
Vegas this
season.
“They are very
talented and
very deep,” said head coach Steve Alford. “I thought our guys
played really
hard. We just turned the ball over too much. There won't be a
lot of teams that
come in here and win and we know that. They got up into us
(defensively) and we
didn't have an answer."
UNM shot out to
a 4-0 lead
early and held the lead for most of the first 10 minutes of the
game. The Lobos
took their biggest lead of the game on a Tony Snell
three-pointer at the 9:32
point to take a 21-16 lead.
The two teams
traded shots
and UNLV tied the game three times before taking a 30-29 lead
with just over
four minutes left in the half. The Rebels then went on a 7-0 run
and went into
halftime with a 39-35 lead.
UNM and UNLV
again traded
shots to begin the second half before the Rebels engineered a
five-point run to
take a 51-41 lead just four minutes into the half. Defensive
pressure as well
as poor shooting from the three-point line by the Lobos
contributed to the
lopsided loss.
"When they
increased
their pressure, I thought we were standing a lot," said Alford.
"Offensively, we got stagnant and that affected our defense. I
think we
had a poor second half against San Diego State and a poor second
half
tonight."
“They (UNLV)
took a lot of
things away from us, but I like our kids' effort," said Alford.
"The
big thing now is to get two (wins) next week and right the ship
before we go
back on the road."
Kendal Williams
and Tony
Snell each scored 15 points to lead UNM while Drew Gordon scored
his 10th
double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds for
the game. UNM
managed to out-rebound the Rebels 38 to 33 but were outscored 38
to 24 in the
paint. UNLV also scored more off turnovers, out-scoring New
Mexico 32-14 on
points off turnovers.
Carlos Lopez
came off the
bench to lead the Rebels with 14 points along with starter Mike
Moser. Anthony
Marshall and Chace Stanback added 13 each for UNLV.
The Lobos host
Colorado
State on Wednesday night at The Pit in what might be a must-win
game for both
teams. The Rams (13-5, 2-1) lost 70-51 at Wyoming Saturday
afternoon.
"The most
important
game of our season now is Wednesday night against Colorado
State," said
Alford. "We have to break our losing streak. If we can get it to
5-2,
we're going to be fine, but it's going to take a lot of work."