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Men's basketball: Can Lobos sustain energy against No. 17 Air Force?

By Jeremy Fowler
Monday, February 5, 2007

New Mexico's J.R. Giddens fires a pass away from Colorado State defenders Tyler Smith (left) and Stuart Creason. UNM won its second game in a row Saturday at CSU. It was the Lobos' first road win of the season.

Rich Abrahamson/Associated Press

New Mexico's J.R. Giddens fires a pass away from Colorado State defenders Tyler Smith (left) and Stuart Creason. UNM won its second game in a row Saturday at CSU. It was the Lobos' first road win of the season.

Next game

Saturday: Air Force (20-3, 7-2 in MWC) at New Mexico (14-10, 3-6)

Game time: 3:30 p.m.

On TV: The Mountain

Winning has changed the Lobos.

Now, they'll hug, pound each other's fists and display locker-room affection in 1,286 different ways.

UNM (14-10, 3-6 in Mountain West Conference) has all week to sustain the emotion, confidence and momentum from a two-game winning streak entering Saturday's game against No. 17 Air Force in The Pit.

UNM won its first road game in eight tries in Saturday's 70-66 win over Colorado State.

If anything, winning beats what played out for most of January, guard Chad Toppert said.

"Nobody was talking; nobody was excited; everybody kept to themselves," said Toppert, whose Lobos defeated Wyoming and Colorado State last week. "Now everyone's coming out, everybody's confident and having fun. Hopefully the community back home will be able to support us now."

It hasn't been easy for fans to support - or even watch - the Lobos, who started the conference season in a last-place, 1-6 funk. Attendance has dipped to 12,777 per game, well out of the top-20 national attendance rankings that used to pencil in New Mexico annually.

But the on-court performance is now looking up. The Lobos are no longer in last place. That prestigious honor belongs to the TCU Horned Frogs, who have lost seven straight games. If Air Force (20-3, 7-2 in MWC) defeats San Diego State on Tuesday, UNM and Utah would be one game out of a tie for fourth place.

There might not be a better team to redirect a team's decline than Air Force, tied for first place in the conference and fresh off a 45-point win over Wyoming.

Lobos players say whichever team they face next shouldn't shake their new, winning mindset.

"Now that we have this confidence, we have to take it to practice and keep working hard," guard Darren Prentice said. "The mental part is confidence, knowing we're going to win wherever we go and whoever we play. We feel that way now. Everything has changed. You can just tell the difference."

Coach Ritchie McKay said his Lobos have played "120 minutes of good basketball," including the 76-72 overtime loss at UNLV, which is ranked No. 25 in the coaches poll. It's too early to count out the Lobos, McKay said.

His players agree.

The CSU win prompted loud celebrations and ear-to-ear smiles on the Lobos' faces.

For good reason.

The Lobos finally made it count when it mattered most, making clutch field goals down the stretch and getting defensive stops in the closing minutes against CSU. The Rams didn't register a field goal in the last 7:29 of play. UNM is now 1-7 on the road this season.

"All the frustration has now come out with a sigh of relief," said reserve guard Ryan Kersten, who exploded for a combined 31 points in the last two wins. "We're going to need to build on this going into a game with a team like (Air Force)."

If players want to savor these feelings of excitement, there's only one solution.

"Winning keeps everybody happy," Toppert said. "If we continue this streak, we'll be in good shape."

And if that doesn't happen?

"That would be real tough," Prentice said. "But we can't even think about that. We have to expect to win from here on out."