SAN DIEGO — The New Mexico Lobos got the good start coach Steve Alford was looking for on the road.

Twice.

The University of New Mexico outscored the San Diego State Aztecs 19-7 to open the game and made a 12-2 run to open the second half to claim a 49-35 lead.

The Lobos used a hot hand from behind the 3-point line shooting 10-of-18 and ran to a 73-63 Mountain West Conference win Wednesday night at the Cox Arena on the SDSU campus.

"We got key rebounds, free throws and big-time stops," said Alford. "It was a great team effort. This is a big win.

"To come to (Cox Arena) and get a win after they beat us at home, it was big. Now, we have to get home and take care of business with TCU."

UNM was led by J.R. Giddens with 22 points, Jamaal Smith with 13 and Dairese Gary with 12. Chad Toppert kicked in eight points, Daniel Faris had seven and Roman Martinez scored six. The Lobos had 15 assists and 15 turnovers.

Giddens also had 11 rebounds, four blocked shots, four assists and two steals.

The road win was an important one for the Lobos who are looking to get even with the three teams ahead of them in the MWC standing that beat UNM in the first half of the league race. Now, the Lobos need to beat Brigham Young and UNLV and play those two teams in The Pit.

The Aztecs beat UNM 72-67 Jan. 12 in Albuquerque.

"I told them (Lobos) in the locker room that the home loss (to SDSU) doesn't crawl at me like the loss on the road to TCU does," said Alford.

The win raised the Lobos' overall mark to 19-6 and pushed them to 6-4 in the MWC. SDSU fell to 16-8 and into a tie with UNM at 6-4. The Lobos really aren't expected to catch league-leading BYU (8-1), but a hot finish would improve the Lobos' seeding for the MWC tourney in Las Vegas.

"You never know what will happen," said Lobos Daniel Faris. "There are a lot of games to play and anything can happen in this league."

The Lobos quickly stretched their four-point halftime lead (37-33) to 10 points at the 16:00 mark when Gary penetrated the lane, threw a head fake to his right and went left for a double-pump layup. UNM led 45-35 and Aztecs coach Steve Fisher came to his feet calling for a timeout. The Lobos were 4-of-8 from the field at that mark and SDSU had only gotten off two shots.

The Aztecs came out of the timeout and quickly turned over the ball which led to another hanging Gary layup which came with a foul. Gary missed the free throw and UNM was up 47-35 at the 15:42 mark. The Aztecs already had turned over the basketball four times.

The Aztecs cut into UNM's lead when D.J. Gay hit a trey at 11:48 to make it 52-42 in favor of UNM. Toppert rolled off a screen on the left side to gun in a trey and the Lobos led 55-42 with 11 minutes to play.

The Lobos kept answering every little SDSU run. Gary hit two free throws to put UNM up 59-46. Toppert tossed in a trey to make it 61-48 UNM at the 7:10 media timeout.

Giddens slipped in one free throw and UNM was up 62-48. The Aztecs never really challenged again.

When Smith hit two free throws at 4:29 to put the Lobos up 64-50, the fans began streaming out of Cox. Giddens drove the lane and elevated to drop in a 4-footer and the Lobos were up 66-52. That basket took care of any Aztecs rally.

The Aztecs intensified their press, but the Lobos took care of business at the free throw line.

The Lobos' good start in the first half was keyed from behind the 3-point line. UNM made its first five 3-pointers and led 19-7 at the 13:00 mark. The Lobos had treys from Martinez, Wills, Giddens, Smith and Toppert.

"They made ever 3 they took early," said Aztecs Fisher. "Whether they were guarded or unguarded and we guarded a bunch of them. They were hotter than a firecracker, especially after big victories back-to-back.

"They played with great confidence and I think they sapped a little bit of our confidence. You can't let that happen."

The Lobos didn't miss a trey in the first half until the 10:25 mark when Toppert, UNM's top 3-point shooter, missed from the right side. The Lobos settled into a 37-33 halftime lead behind 14 points from Giddens.

The attendance for the game was 6,307.