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In the pecking order of Ritchie McKay's Lobos, J.R. Giddens continues to plummet.

Which might be a good thing for the University of New Mexico - 91-83 winners over Wyoming on Tuesday night in The Pit behind a variety of productive Lobos lineups, most of them not including Giddens.

As it stands today, Tony Danridge is the best Lobo, the most consistent Lobo, the Lobo who should take the big shot.

Behind Danridge is Darren Prentice - which might actually be a promising sign for Giddens.

You see, Prentice used to be the poster boy for the McKay doghouse - a kennel in which Giddens seems to have taken up permanent residence.

Now, Prentice is helping keep McKay's team in games and maybe even keeping McKay on the bubble when it comes to UNM's brass deciding whether to cut McKay loose at the end of the 2006-07 season.

Ironically, McKay's future might depend on yet another Lobo crawling out of the doghouse to become a productive Lobo.

Giddens needs to join Prentice. Giddens simply has too much talent to waste. But will it ever happen again? Will McKay ever allow it to happen again?

The Giddens who has taken to the court lately appears to be a player whose spirit and confidence has been broken by UNM's control-happy coach.

Giddens looks like a raw and frightened Army recruit looking over his shoulder for the I-am-the-boss drill sergeant. Giddens went 3-of-10 from the field against Wyoming, scoring eight points.

The Lobos often ran a better offense with Giddens on the bench.

But McKay might want to build Giddens back up before McKay storms the beaches (OK, sand dunes) of Vegas, also called the Mountain West tournament.

The Lobos' thing of late has been to throw out a four-guard lineup and rely on quickness and shooting to stay in games. The plan has worked well.

But this philosophy has flaws that should show up on the MWC road.

Give some of the MWC coaches two weeks to study film and they will come up with a solution. They'll quit defending the dribble and start defending the shot. They'll win inside the paint.

Give Wyoming's Steve McClain, Colorado State's Dale Layer, San Diego State's Steve Fisher and UNLV's Lon Kruger three weeks and a correspondence course, and they might come up with a solution, too.

McClain had no solution Tuesday in The Pit. His Cowboys controlled the tempo and the style of the game in the first half and led UNM 34-30 at the half.

He let the Lobos run on an open court in the second half and his team lost by eight.

In Laramie, McClain probably can win with his flashy guard play. In The Pit, McClain needed to win with tempo and power forwards. He didn't do it.

The question for UNM is how long will it take the MWC coaches to adjust to McKay's latest trick?

But that's also assuming one thing: That the rest of the MWC really cares that much what UNM is doing.

The Lobos won Tuesday, and that's a nice change. But something hasn't changed - UNM is still in the MWC doghouse, sometimes called the MWC cellar.