Kevin Kreck/The Gazette

Air Force guard Tim Anderson tries to steal the ball from New Mexico point guard Jamaal Smith. The Lobos lost a first-half lead and were tongue-lashed by head coach Steve Alford before coming out to dominate in the second for a 68-51 win. "He said a few things. He said a lot of things," Smith said of Alford. "He gave quite a speech."

Kevin Kreck/The Gazette

Lobos center Daniel Faris is fouled by the Falcons' Matt Holland. Faris scored 11 points as UNM won its fifth straight conference game for the first time since 2005.

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Maybe you give this 68-51 win to the University of New Mexico's J.R. Giddens, because the things he did in the second half went way beyond scoring, rebounding and blocking shots.

The Air Force Falcons seemed scared of the big, bad Lobo.

When the 6-foot-5 Giddens drove, the Falcons collapsed like five little pigs looking for better building materials. And other Lobos became open for Steve-Alford-approved shots.

But maybe you give this win to Alford, because the Lobos who survived his halftime tongue-lashing didn't look much like the Lobos who played the final 10 minutes of the first half.

Alford huffed and puffed at halftime.

"He said a few things. He said a lot of things," UNM senior guard Jamaal Smith said. "He gave quite a speech."

Smith said what Alford basically told the Lobos was to start playing smarter, start moving their feet and go play some defense.

"We talked about it at halftime," Alford said. "I think that's why I don't have much voice. We got into them (his players) because I thought that our offense was really good, but we didn't guard."

Said Smith: "He woke a few guys up. Mostly, he told us we had to go out there and start playing defense."

Alford likes defense. He's made that crystal clear. It's a part of the game that can be a constant.

In the first half, UNM let Air Force rally from a 27-13 deficit, shoot 66.7 percent, and tie the game at the break 35-all.

In the second half, the Falcons shot 33.3 percent (0-of-9 from 3-point range) and lost only their sixth game in the past 72 in Clune Arena.

By 17 points.

The Lobos were impressive in the first 10 minutes and in the final 20.

They'll probably have to be impressive at least 39 minutes on Saturday at Utah, where the Lobos are 5-51 and have lost 18 consecutive games.

"Utah is tough at home," Giddens said. "But this isn't just a different Lobos team. It's a different program. I don't think what happened in the past matters much.

"If we play like we did in the second half (against Air Force), we can beat anyone."

It was nice for UNM that Giddens showed up in the second half. He played only 5 minutes and 1 second in the first half before two fouls placed him on the bench near Alford. He sat down with five points and no rebounds.

It was a blow. Giddens had averaged 25.5 points in UNM's previous four games. He scored nine points in the second half, pulled down seven rebounds and added two blocks and two steals.

"Our best player was out 15 minutes of the first half, and we were able to get to halftime fine," Alford said.

Of course, it wasn't really all that fine. That's why Alford huffed and puffed at halftime.

"I felt crummy sitting on the bench watching our lead get deflated," Giddens said. "But I knew I'd get a chance in the second half.

"We were a different team in the second half. We are still learning that when we get a foot on a team, we have to keep it down."

The Lobos had better hope they are a different team Saturday than at least 51 previous Lobos teams who have ventured into Salt Lake City to take a beating.

In Salt Lake, the Utes seem to know how to place their foot on a Lobos' neck.

In Salt Lake, the Utes are the big, bad wolves.