Lobos lead at the half
Top-seeded New Mexico has taken a 38-31 lead into the locker room in the first quarterfinal of the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Darington Hobson has 13 points and seven to lead the Lobos, who hit 5 of 16 from 3-point range and 7 of 7 free throws.
Dairese Gary has nine points for New Mexico.
Air Force, which does not have an offensive rebound, was led by Tom Fow’s seven points. The Falcons bench has 13 points, compared to just two for New Mexico.
Close cover
Evan Washington hit a running 3-pointer at the buzzer for Air Force after Hobson had scored on a putback for New Mexico with five seconds remaining.
It was a wild finish to the half inside the Thomas & Mack Center, but it was probably much crazier in local sports books.
When the series of events started, New Mexico led by eight points.
The Lobos went ahead 10 on Hobson’s basket, but Washington cut the lead back to seven.
New Mexico was about a 9-point favorite in the first half.
A game of runs
New Mexico jumped out to a 12-4 lead just 3:30 into the game, but Air Force is not the type of team to panic.
The Falcons stayed calm, worked their offense, and took the lead just three minutes later with a 9-0 run of their own.
In fact, Air Force held the Lobos to just one field goal over a seven minute span.
It was then New Mexico’s turn to respond. The Lobos scored eight straight points to seize a 20-13 advantage with 8:00 left in the half.
Huge call
There was a scramble on the floor for a loose ball with 1:22 left in the first half.
It was the kind of play were a jump ball is called about 95 percent of the time. As is often the case, the Air Force players were calling for a timeout, as well.
Instead, the farthest official from the play stepped in and called a foul on New Mexico’s Roman Martinez, who was in the middle of the pile.
The call gave the Falcons two free throws, which were made. More importantly, it was the second foul on Martinez.
New Mexico is already a fairly thin team, so foul trouble can take a toll.
Time for a change
Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski made a very good point during the first half.
New Mexico coach Steve Alford has almost an identical haircut to the one he sported as a player at Indiana.
He has to be given some credit for losing much of it or going gray before his time like many in his profession, maybe it’s time to experiment a little bit.
Alford with a flat-top? That would be something to see.
