New Mexico (22-5, 8-3 MWC,
ranked 18th AP, 21st in the USA Today/ESPN
Coaches Poll)
shot just 22-of-60 (36.7%) and turned the ball over 17 times and
CSU outscored
the Lobos 30-24 in the paint and used a four-guard line-up to
frustrate UNM on
offense and penetrate past the conference’s best defensive team
with aggressive
drives to the basket all game long.
“We didn’t
shoot the ball
very well,” said head coach Steve Alford on the post-game show
on KKOB 770 AM.
“I give them a lot of credit. They (CSU) played very well,
that’s why they’re
6-0 at home. We knew this was going to be a difficult game and
we didn’t shoot
the ball very well for whatever reason. It was a tough night for
us and those
things happen in a difficult league.”
Sophomore guard
Kendall Williams paced New Mexico with 16 points on 3-of-13 shooting,
scoring the
majority of his points at the free throw line, going 9-for-9
from the charity
stripe.
Senior Drew Gordon scored 13
points and 6 rebounds. Gordon, who was double and triple teamed
throughout the
game, injured his knee in the second half but returned to play.
Demetrius Walker came off the bench to score 14 points, one point off his
career high.
Guard Dorian Green led all
scorers with 17 points and four assists. Forward Pierce Hornung
scored 13
points and pulled in 15 rebounds for his best performance of the
conference
season.
“I thought
Hornung was good
and really the difference in the game. He was just really,
really active. We
thought we could take advantage with our size but we got beat in
the paint. Our
bigs could not get going inside and that’s a great credit (to
CSU).”
After UNM took
an early 4-2
lead, CSU began to get its shooting going and lead 9-6 with
12:38 left in the
half. The Lobos tied the game 9-9 on a trey by Chad Adams but
the Rams went on
a 9-2 run to take an 18-11 lead with just under 10 minutes left
in the half.
New Mexico cut the lead to 22-20 on a Demetrius Walker
three-pointer at the
4:50 mark. The two teams battled down the stretch of the first
half. CSU
appeared to be going into the break with the advantage and
momentum when Jesse Carr answered a Kendall Williams dunk with a dunk of his own.
But Jamal Fenton
drove the length of the court and sank a trey with 2 seconds
left in the half.
CSU led 30-29 at halftime.
The Lobos
briefly took 31-30
lead on an A.J. Hardeman lay up 50 seconds into the second half
and the two
teams battled to gain the upper hand. With the game tied 36-36
with 15:30 left
in the game, CSU surged forward with a 7-0 spurt to take a 43-36
lead. UNM kept
it close and again tied the game at 46-46 with just under 11
minutes left but
the Lobos could not find the combination to take the lead again.
After another
Lobo lull, CSU
pushed the lead out to 60-52. A trey by Walker for UNM at 1:43
left made the
Rams’ lead 64-60 but UM would get no closer.
“I love what
this team’s
done but we’ve had a lot emotion in the last ten days that
they’ve had to
handle,” said Alford. “Playing on Tuesday was a short turnaround
for us. It’s
not an excuse but we’ve had a lot of games in a few amount of
days.”
Alford said
that while the
loss was a tough one, CSU has played well at home, as evidenced
by their
previous win over a ranked team – a 77-60 win over San Diego
St., which was
then ranked 13th in the AP poll, 13th in
the USA
Today/ESPN poll.
“We haven’t
lost in a while,
we went 7-0, that’s a great streak,” Alford said. “We just
picked a night to
shoot the ball poorly. Normally we’d have one or two guys not
play well and
then somebody would pick that slack up. But tonight we didn’t
have that
happen.”
UNM plays its
final road
game of the season Saturday afternoon at TCU. The Horned Frogs
are also
undefeated at home in MWC play and currently sit in fourth
place.