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You know it's gotten bad in Loboland when fans start leaving with eight minutes left.

Brigham Young ran the University of New Mexico out of its own gym Wednesday with a startling 70-49 win in The Pit.

The nightmare worsens for the Lobos (12-9, 1-5 in Mountain West Conference), who have lost six of their last seven games.

A quote from BYU guard Austin Ainge said it all about the state of New Mexico basketball.

"It's been a long time since we blew a team out in conference play," Ainge said, who finished with eight assists.

And the Cougars (14-6, 4-2 in MWC) did it in The Pit, where this isn't supposed to happen. Not like this, anyway.

Guard J.R. Giddens, who didn't start the game because coach Ritchie McKay said five Lobos played better than him in practcice, left the game on a re-injured sprained left ankle and finished with zero points on 0-of-5 shooting. This was Giddens' first scoreless game with New Mexico, and guard Tony Danridge (21 points) was the only Lobos player to finish in double digits scoring.

A dejected Giddens, who fell on his ankle with about eight minutes left, stormed out of the back door of The Pit after the game.

Others were willing to talk, including McKay, who said he's responsible for keeping the Lobos above .500. McKay takes his last-place conference team and his 0-6 road record into UNLV on Saturday.

"A quick fix?," McKay said. "I can't call BYU's coach and ask for a trade. We're struggling. This is an adverse time.

Things were jazzier for most of the first half, when the Lobos and Cougars traded leads 17 times. But the last three minutes of the first half, which culminated with a 11-0 run by BYU, determined the game. The Lobos went 0-of-4 from the field with three turnovers in their last seven possessions of the first.

As momentum grew, so did BYU's lead. A 3-pointer by Cougars guard Mike Rose with 8:17 left officially put the game out of reach, 55-39.

Cue the crickets in The Pit -- and the sour faces from Lobos players and fans. The body language of Lobos players showed signs of quitting. UNM shot 20-of-53 (38 percent) from the field, including 4-of-16 (25 percent) from the 3-point line. The Cougars, meanwhile, made 9 of their 18 3-point attempts.

"We don't feel like this is the end," guard Darren Prentice said. "That was just frustration out there. We ain't giving up on this team."

BYU guard Jonathan Tavernari scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Cougars to their second road win of the season. This is UNM's season low for points in a game, more underwhelming than the previous low of 52 points in a loss to TCU.