LAS VEGAS, Nev. — New Mexico Lobos coach Steve Alford predicted there would be chaos and full-court pressure in the Thomas and Mack Center on Saturday night.

Alford was right.

What he probably didn't see was a major collapse by his University of New Mexico Lobos ballhandlers that put the Lobos into a 20-point halftime hole they could not climb out of.

"That first half really bothered us," said Alford.

UNM went into the game averaging 13.2 turnovers and the Lobos had 16 in the first half alone. They finished the game with 22 turnovers.

That turnover figure also finished the Lobos on the scoreboard = 79-60 in favor of UNLV. The Rebs scored 20 points in the first half off turnovers and five points off fast breaks. UNM scored six points in those two categories.

"We came out sluggish again," said Lobo sophomore Roman Martinez. "We need to find our game again. We're not coming out with enough energy and that's what we're all about, effort and energy."

Coach Alford said he wasn't upset with UNM's energy level but he wasn't happy with his Lobos' ability to turn possessions into shots = or points. The Rebs took 30 shots in the first half and UNM took 20. UNLV made 10 more field goals.

"Unlike BYU, when it was an energy thing, here it was turning the ball over and not getting shots," he said. "They're tough, they're physical and we just didn't match them."

It appeared from the get-go that UNLV's press, aggression and athleticism would be too much for the Lobos. UNLV led 8-3, 21-5 and 30-8 in running to its 40-20 halftime lead.

The loss pushed UNM a notch deeper into the Mountain West Conference standings and maybe took another piece of Lobo confidence with it. UNM fell to 16-6 on the year and 3-4 in league. Air Force, 4-3 in the MWC, slipped ahead of UNM into fourth place with a win at TCU.

The win vaults UNLV to 17-4 overall and 6-1 in the MWC. UNLV plays at Utah on Wednesday and UNM plays host to Colorado State (0-7 MWC) Tuesday in The Pit.

The Vegas pounding was similar to what the Lobos experienced on their last MWC road trip to Brigham Young = another mismatch of talent and agression. BYU beat UNM 83-66 on Jan. 26 in Provo, Utah.

If there was any hope for a Lobo miracle rally, it ended at the 10:01 mark when Vegas' Wink Adams put a move on two Lobo defenders to find himself wide open for a four-foot jumper. He buried it to make it 64-34.

The Rebs went into a coast mode at that point, got a little sloppy with the basketball, went to the bench as BYU did in its romp, and let UNM cut the gap to the final 79-60.

"These last two games, they are better basketball teams than we are," Alford said of UNLV and BYU. "We just have to keep working to get better."

The Lobos were paced by J. R. Giddens with 13 points and seven rebounds. The only other Lobo in double figures was Martinez with 10.

The Lobos also got nine points from Daniel Faris, seven points apiece from Jonathan Wills and Dairese Gary, six points each from Chad Toppert and Darren Prentice, and one point apiece from Jamaal Smith and Johnnie Harris.

"I didn't show up to play," said Smith. "I didn't help my team one bit."

UNLV's Adams dominated the court almost at will. He was worth a point a minute in the first half, scoring 17 points in 17 minutes of playing time. He finished with 24 points logging only 11 minutes in the second half.

The Rebs also got 17 points from Joe Darger, 13 points from Matt Shaw and 11 points from Rene Rougeau.

UNLV had 11 steals to two steals for UNM. Vegas shot 49.1 percent from the floor going 28-of-57 and UNM was 39.2 percent going 20-of-51.

The Lobos fell into a huge hole at the half and the Rebs made sure their guests stayed buried.

At the first media timeout of the second half at 15:55, the Rebs' 20-point halftime lead had been bumped up to 26 points = 50-24.

UNM opened the second half going 2-of-7 from the field with no treys and UNLV was 4-of-6 with two free throws. The Rebs' biggest lead was the 64-34 bulge formed by Adams.

The game really was decided in the first half by UNLV pressure that created 16 Lobo turnovers to only five miscues for the Rebs.

UNLV ran to its 20-point lead at the half shooting 16-of-30 from the floor, 5-of-17 from the 3-point line. The Rebs got off 10 more shots than UNM and made ten more baskets.

The Rebs, not normally a good shooting team (41.6), shot 53.4 percent from the floor in that half. The Rebs did their damage on transition buckets and dribble drives as they went 11-of-13 from inside the 3-point line.

Adams, who had 25 points in his last game at TCU, almost matched UNM's team total at half with his 17 points.

The Lobos leading scorer at the break was freshman Wills, who came off the bench to score his seven points. That first-half effort got Wills the start over Toppert in the second half. Toppert did not score in the first half and only got off one shot over the UNLV pressure.

The Rebs had nine first-half steals to two for UNM and UNLV outrebounded the Lobos 18-13.