Mario Ruiz/Associated Press

New Mexico guard Chad Toppert fights BYU's Keena Young for a rebound. Lobos head coach Ritchie McKay made 77 substitutions Wednesday, but UNM lost 96-83.

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PROVO, Utah — Watching game tape this week had J.R. Giddens fed up.

When University of New Mexico coaches showed their top guard clips of the November Giddens - the slashing Giddens, the shooting Giddens, the winning Giddens - he saw he really didn't like the January and February Giddens.

In a 96-83 losing effort to Brigham Young, the talented but struggling junior channeled his former self with a 19-point performance on 8-of-13 shooting.

Despite Giddens and the Lobos shooting 54 percent (14-of-26) from the 3-point line, BYU still led by as many as 20 points.

"I kind of have that (forget)-it mind-set right now - go out there and play," Giddens said. "Sometimes you can't sit back in life and wait for things to come to you. I've been passive. Earlier in the season, people used to say, `Dang it, I have to guard him.' It was because I was aggressive. That's the way I was tonight."

When a player is struggling mightily, sometimes it's easy to forget about how he started the season. Giddens averaged 20.4 points through the first five games of the season, all wins.

For most of the conference season, however, Giddens has failed to perform like the All-Mountain West Conference guard some expected in the preseason. Giddens scored 32 points in his previous four games for an average of eight per outing.

That Giddens limped around on a sprained ankle and settled for errant jumpers and sometimes found a seat on the bench in crunch time - as was the case Saturday against No. 17 Air Force, when Giddens sat the last 3:28 in the 60-51 loss.

Giddens, at least for one night, stopped talking and started driving to the hole. A through-the-lane tomahawk dunk was reminiscent of those fiery first games in The Pit. This was Giddens' best game since his 26-point performance against Utah on Jan. 13.

A moment like Wednesday allowed Giddens to exhale.

"Talking with coach this week, I felt like I was settling," Giddens said. "I was just playing a role, going out there and worrying about the offense or whatever. You all see what happens when I play aggressive. Can't nobody guard me."

Giddens did his damage in 26 minutes, which surprisingly led the team. Coach Ritchie McKay kept the officials busy in the Marriott Center by making an astounding 77 substitutions. This was a planned thing for McKay, who was out to confuse the Cougars with numerous different looks.

It didn't work.

BYU used 27 substitutions. The Lobos used 33 subs against Air Force.

Giddens seemed to hit the bench after every basket he scored, though he usually re-entered the game after a minute, maybe two.

Giddens said he's always game for playing more than 26 minutes, but he revels in the idea of more up-tempo basketball because of all the fresh legs.

"Some guys played 50 seconds, some guys played four minutes but not more than that," McKay said. "You may or may not see more of that. We just need more time to work on it."

One thing is certain for Giddens. When he enters the court, he's looking to score.

"Every time I came out there, I was telling (BYU) players they didn't want to guard me," Giddens said. "I was being myself out there. Once I hit a couple of shots, I started to feel good."