Lobos alone in first after upsetting No. 13 Aztecs

SAN DIEGO -- New Mexico came into No. 13 San Diego State's loud, crazy Viejas Arena and made a bold statement of its own.

Kendall Williams scored 21 points, and Drew Gordon had 17 points and 17 rebounds as the Lobos stunned the Aztecs 77-67 on Wednesday to move into sole possession of first place in the Mountain West Conference.

"We needed momentum and we needed a proving game, and this is a pretty good proving game for us," New Mexico coach Steve Alford said.

It's been a crazy several days in the MWC, and the Lobos (21-4, 7-2), who won their sixth straight, have been the beneficiaries. No. 11 UNLV beat the Aztecs on Saturday and then lost in overtime at Texas Christian on Tuesday.

"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, whose father, Ed, played at San Diego State in the early 1980s. "I think we'll get a little bit more recognition for being in the hunt to win the conference. It was a good win for us and we basically dictate our own fate from here on out."

It was just the second home conference loss in two seasons for SDSU (20-5, 6-3) and the first time the Aztecs lost consecutive games since January 2010. They had gone 79 games without consecutive losses.

The Lobos held Chase Tapley, the conference's leading scorer, to seven points. He came in averaging 16.2 points and had been in double figures in 18 straight games. Tapley was held scoreless until making a layup with 4:38 to play. Jamaal Franklin scored 16 points for the Aztecs, while Tim Shelton had 13 and James Rahon 11.

"We played a team that played better than anyone we've played to date," Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said. "They beat us. I don't think we lost. We were on the downhill trying to climb back up. Every time we did, they made a basket to keep us behind."

Jamal Fenton had 15 points for New Mexico.

When the Lobos and Aztecs met Jan. 18 at the Pit, San Diego State fell behind 10-0 before rallying for a 75-70 win. The Aztecs trailed by 10 points in the first half of this game and tied it at 38 with a 6-1 burst to open the second half. But, fueled by Gordon's rebounding and San Diego State's turnovers and poor shooting, the Lobos responded with a 16-1 run to take a 54-39 lead.

"They blitzed us," Fisher said. "We were never able to get ourselves to a point where we had a chance to tie or go ahead."

■ Boise State 70, Colorado State 69 -- At Boise, Idaho, Derrick Marks dribbled the length of the court for the winning basket with less than a second remaining to give the Broncos (12-12, 2-7) a dramatic victory over the Rams (15-9, 4-5).

Wes Eikmeier scored 21 of his career-high 30 points in the second half for Colorado State, which used an 11-0 run to take a 67-64 lead.

■ Air Force 58, Wyoming 53 -- At Laramie, Wyo., Michael Lyons sank six 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead the Falcons over the Cowboys.

Air Force (12-11, 2-7) snapped a seven-game losing streak and gave interim coach Dave Pilipovich his first win.

Adam Waddell led Wyoming (18-7, 4-5) with 15 points.