Lobos fend off Air Force

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Front-running New Mexico was in big trouble against Air Force, the last-place team in the Mountain West Conference.

This must be a special season, all right. Somehow, the Lobos managed to win.

Darrington Hobson scored 17 points, including a putback with 16.9 seconds remaining, Dairese Gary made two free throws with 2.5 seconds left, and No. 12 New Mexico survived a season-low point total to beat the feisty Falcons 59-56 on Saturday.

"Big win," New Mexico's Roman Martinez said after taking his seat in the interview room. "We should have lost that game, but we found a way to win."

Yes, New Mexico (25-3, 11-2 MWC) is still winning. The Lobos logged plenty of important marks with the victory -- their school-record 11th straight win in conference play and the school's best record through 28 games.

How they won this one was even difficult for the Lobos to explain. Hobson struggled to remember how Gary threaded the pass to him.

"I don't know how he did it," Hobson said. "I don't know how I caught it, but it was a good play."

But it was not easy, not with Air Force (9-16, 1-11) using its methodical half-court offense to throw a wrench into the gears of one of the nation's hottest teams.

"I thought we controlled the game," Falcons coach Jeff Reynolds said.

They did, and they almost pulled off an upset.

Grant Parker scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, including a layup with 27.8 seconds left that put the Falcons ahead 56-55.

But Gary drove and found Hobson on New Mexico's ensuing possession, and a sellout crowd at The Pit exhaled a major sigh of relief.

■ No. 16 Brigham Young 85, Wyoming 63 -- At Laramie, Wyo., Jimmer Fredette and freshman Tyler Haws scored 22 points each as the Cougars rolled over the Cowboys.

BYU (25-3, 10-2 MWC) led comfortably the entire way to stay within one-half game of first-place New Mexico.

Freshman Desmar Jackson scored a season-high 26 points for Wyoming (2-11, 9-18), which has lost seven straight games and 10 of 11.

BYU led 40-28 at halftime, only to see Wyoming cut the lead to eight points with 10 minutes remaining. But Jonathan Tavernari's 3-pointer and Charles Abouo's dunk ignited a 16-3 run, and the Cougars cruised from there.

■ San Diego State 68, Utah 61 -- At San Diego, Malcom Thomas scored 19 of his career-high 28 points in the first half as the Aztecs held on to beat the Utes.

San Diego State (20-7, 9-4 MWC), which set a school mark by reaching 20 wins for the fifth straight season, swept Utah for only the second time in the series.

Carlon Brown scored 13 points to lead Utah (12-14, 5-7), which has lost five of seven.

The Aztecs won despite hitting 9 of 16 free throws in the final 2:22, including a stretch of six consecutive misses.