Hobson leads Lobos to semis

Darington Hobson had 28 points and 15 rebounds to lead top-seeded New Mexico to a tougher-than-expected 75-69 win over Air Force in the first quarterfinal of the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball tournament.

Dairese Gary went 14-for-15 from the free-throw line as part of a 20-point effort for the Lobos.

Air Force, the No. 9 seed in the tournament, was within one in the second half. Hobson proved to be too much for the Falcons to handle.

Hobson had two incredibly athletic tip-ins as part of New Mexico’s 14-6 edge in second-chance points.

“I thought their ability to knock down offensive stick backs was quite frankly the difference,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said.

Hobson also knocked down 9 of 11 free throws as the Lobos outscored Air Force 25-8 from the line.

“You talk about conference tournament play and you talk about someone that goes 28 and 15,” New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. “He had a performance today that there’s maybe not been 10 performances like it in the last 11 years or so of this league. That’s a big-time performance by the conference player of the year.”

Tom Fow had 17 points and four assists, and Michael Lyons added 15 points for Air Force. No Falcon player had more than four rebounds as they were outrebounded 31-22.

New Mexico is now 12-0 in games decided by six points or less.

It will play tomorrow night against the winner of the Colorado State-San Diego State quarterfinal.

Firing up the wrong team

Darington Hobson had an amazing game, but the emotional forward came very close to drawing technical fouls on several occasions.

Early in the second half, he was actually whistled for one.

After a silky smooth drive to the basket, the Las Vegan stood under the basket and pumped his chest.

He was immediately called for the technical. Air Force hit both free throws and scored the next six points.

Hobson’s basket had put New Mexico up by nine points, but Air Force had cut the deficit to one almost immediately.

Hobson said he’s just an emotional player, but he’s been trying to eliminate the outbursts that have been drawing him technicals this year.

“That’s something I’ve been trying to work on down the stretch. It cost us two points tonight and I’m really sorry about that,” Hobson said.

Booing their own

New Mexico fans were furious at a foul called against Roman Martinez heading into the first media timeout of the second half.

They let the officials know with a loud chorus of boos as the teams walked to their benches.

The throngs of Lobos supporters were still loudly voicing their disapproval when the New Mexico cheerleaders started to do their routine during the break.

At least it appeared to just be a continuation of the boos. Perhaps they just didn’t like the cheer.

Fashion sense

Mark Smith, a longtime New Mexico beat writer, showed up today wearing a light-colored suit with a pimped-out hat.

It has been the talk of the media section and the first thing Steve Alford noticed upon walking into the press room.

“I just like Mark Smith’s outfit,” he said as his opening statement. “You never know what you’re going to see in Season No. 3.

By that, he was referring to the postseason.

Smith then referred to Alford by his nickname of “Ace” during a question.

Quite a relationship.

Credit to Air Force

Steve Alford noted the job Jeff Reynolds has done in not only keeping his players from quitting, but actually improving late in the year.

“I was just telling my team that I think Jeff in the last two or three weeks has done more with his team than any other team in this league,“ Alford said. “You’ve seen it coming. They’ve played hard and confident. Often times, when you see teams that haven’t won too many games, you see teams going in the other direction. That’s a tremendous credit to Jeff and his staff.”

Breaking the streak

New Mexico has now won 15 straight games, but today’s victory puts an end to a losing skid in this tournament.

The Lobos had not won an MWC tournament game since 2005, a losing streak of four games.

“I haven’t experience this in my whole career,” senior forward Roman Martinez said. “It’s a great feeling knowing that we can win in the tournament.”

Hobson has not been a part of the losses, but was happy to help his team finally get a win. He just doesn’t want to celebrate too much.

“The coaching staff and (Martinez) have been here for three years and haven’t been out of the first round yet, so it feels great, but we’re not done yet,” he said.

Up next

Fourth-seeded San Diego State will take on No. 5 Colorado State in the second quarterfinal of the day.

The Aztecs, like every other better-seeded team today, are a double-digit favorite.

The last time the Rams played in this building, they were run right out of the gym by UNLV.