Williams, a sophomore tied a
career high, scoring a game-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting and
a smoking
5-of-6 night from three-point range while Gordon, a senior, posted
his 12th
double-double of the season, setting season highs in conference
play with 17
points and 17 rebounds. Juniors Jamal Fenton and Chad Adams came
off the bench
to add 15 points and 8 points respectively as New Mexico (21-4,
7-2 MWC) got 33
points off the bench compared to 11 points from reserves by San Diego State,
which falls to 20-5, 6-3 in conference.
The loss was
SDSU’s first at
home to an unranked opponent in 44 games and just the Aztecs’
second home loss
this season.
“I think this
team has been
under appreciated,” said head coach Steve Alford in this
post-game comments on
770 KKOB-AM. “I’ve been fighting for this team all year long
because I know how
good they can be. I think we’re playing our best basketball of
the year at the
right time. We’re starting to get in a groove and we’re
healthy.”
“It was a
pivotal game,”
Alford said. “I’m just really proud of the way our guys
competed. They fought
and I thought every time they made a run we had an answer,
either in a defense
stop or an offensive score.”
The Lobos
seized the initiative
in the first half but San Diego State looked to make it a game
early in the
second half. The Aztecs opened the second half on a 6-0 run to
tie the game at
38-38with 18:26 left in the game.
But UNM
responded with a
16-1 run of their own, powered by consecutive treys –one by Chad
Adams and a
pair from Kendall Williams to take a 54-39 with 13:53 left in
the game.
“I thought this
game, when
you’re playing a ranked team on their floor… this isn’t an easy
place to play,’
said Alford. And pretty much from five minutes into the second
half we’re up
ten the whole night.”
San Diego State
would make
one final charge behind the shooting of guard Chase Tapley, who
scored all
seven of his points in the Aztecs’ final run. Tapley hit a trey
and a lay up to
get SDSU to within 6 points, 70-64 with 2:34 left in the game.
With the Aztecs’
raucous crowd back in the game, the momentum appeared to be in
their favor. But
after a timely timeout called by Alford at the 2:12 mark, SDSU’s
Tim Shelton
missed a wide-open lay up and Gordon responded with a 15-foot
jumper on the
other end. After another Shelton miss, Jamal Fenton gave UNM
what would be an
insurmountable 74-64 lead with a pair of free throws with
exactly a minute left
in the game. SDSU made trey but Fenton and Gordon made three
free throws down
the stretch to conclude the scoring.
“You know, all
season people
have been talking about San Diego State and UNLV going at it, so
this is a nice
win to put us solely in first,” said Gordon.
The Lobos
trailed early but
Williams’ second trey of the night followed by a lay up by
Gordon put UNM in
the lead for good at 8-7 with 15:40 left in the first half.
Benefiting from a
strange technical foul call on Jamal Franklin, who smashed
Patrick McDonald in
the face while trying to knock the ball off a Lobo player, the
Lobos pushed the
lead to 27-17 with just under nine minutes to play in the half
before SDSU
mounted a comeback. The Aztecs cut the lead to 31-29 on a pair
of Tim Shelton
free throws with 2:13 left in the half. Williams hit a trey and
a jumper to
push the lead back to seven points at 36-29 with 50 seconds
left. But SDSU’s
Xavier Thames hit three free throws to cut the leave UNM with a
36-32 lead at
halftime.
“I think we’ll
get a little
bit more recognition for being in the hunt to win the
conference,” said Gordon.
“It was a good win for us and we basically dictate our own fate
from here on
out.”
New Mexico
faces UNLV
Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in game broadcast regionally on CBS.
The game is
already a sell out.
The Rebels
(22-5, 6-3) are
currently tied for second with SDSU after the Rebels’ 102-97
overtime loss at
TCU Tuesday night. The Lobos will be looking to extend their
current six-game
winning streak while getting payback for a 80-63 loss at UNLV in
January