The University of New Mexico Lobos found an unlikely formula to end a 12-year losing streak in Laramie.

Fall behind the Wyoming Cowboys by 16 points at the half, go into double overtime, lose your top scorer to fouls, and pop in enough 3-pointers to escape with a 99-92 win.

It also helps if your senior point guard has a career-high game which is what 5-foot-9 Jamaal Smith had with 24 points.

The win pushes UNM to 14-2 on the season and 1-0 in Mountain West Conference play. The Lobos' next MWC game is Saturday in The Pit against San Diego State.

"We learned a valuable lesson at halftime," said Lobos coach Steve Alford on his postgame radio show. "I thought we reverted back to some very bad habits in the first half."

The Lobos did a lot of things poorly in the first half playing on low intensity and throwing in enough bad defense to watch the Cowboys run to a 48-32 lead.

Alford said the only adjustment at the half was playing more zone defense to slow down Wyoming's Brandon Ewing and to contest more Wyoming 3-pointers.

"We just got beat so thoroughly in the first half," said Alford.

The Lobos opened up the seccnd half with a 16-2 run which made the score 50-48 and turned the game into a dogfight the rest of the way in. The teams were tied 73-all at the end of regulation and 82-all at the end of the first overtime.

The Cowboys had several opportunites to win the game in regulation, but the Lobos were in better position in both overtimes.

UNM finally took control in the second overtime off a huge 3-pointer by senior Darren Prentice followed by an off-balanced 17-footer from Smith that gave the Lobos a 91-86 lead.

Wyoming's Ewing then came down and forced up an off-balance shot that was rebounded by Lobo Daniel Faris, who was fouled. Faris hit both free throws and the Lobos were up 92-86 with 2:06 to play.

The Cowboys could not overcome that gap.

UNM was led by Smith with 24 points followed by Chad Toppert with 18 points, J.R. Giddens with 16, Prentice with 15 and Faris with 13. Giddens and Faris led UNM rebounders with eight apiece.

Wyoming was led by 6-8 Ryan Dermody with 24 points and 6-8 Joseph Taylor threw in 17. Ewing and Brad Jones, Cowboys top-scoring guards, had 15 apiece. A huge key for UNM was Jones picking up a technical foul near the end of regulation and Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer deciding to bench the talented senior for the rest of the game.

Wyoming had tied the game in the second overtime at 86-86 on a Dermody trey, before UNM pulled ahead. Smith's jumper that put the Lobos up 91-86 followed a Giddens' steal. Giddens fouled out with 1:40 left to play.

Smith got another huge bucket for UNM driving from the left side, stumbling in the lane, and throwing up an underhanded, off-balance shot that hit the backboard and fell in to give the Lobos a 94-87 lead.

The Lobos got the final shot in regulation and in the first overtime, but failed to excecute on offense and got off bad shots

A key bucket in the first overtime was a dunk by Giddens on a rebound that put UNM up 82-81. Wyoming forced a second overtime when Taylor hit one of two free throws.

Giddens also made a big trey with 1:23 left in regulation to tie the game 71-all and hit two free throws with 22 seconds to go to hand UNM a 73-71 lead. Taylor again tied the game for Wyoming, this time on a short jumper in the lane.

The Cowboys biggest lead of the second half, after UNM's 16-2 run, was 64-54 at the 8:25 mark.

Toppert hit a 3-pointer at 7:55 to cut Wyoming's lead to 64-57 and then Smith and Prentice hit treys to make it 66-63 favoring Wyoming.

Jones got his technical with 4:51 to play in regulation. Toppert made one of the freebies and UNM was down two, 66-64.

The intensity and energy the Lobos showed in El Paso on Wednesday did not make the trip to Laramie in the first half .

The Lobos played at slower pace than the Cowboys through most of the first half and the Lobos took a 16-point deficit into the half.

The 'Pokes got their 16-point bulge after UNM's Faris bricked two free throws and Wyoming worked for the final shot of the half.

The shot wasn't exactly an easy one as Ewing launched from about 28 feet, but the shot rattled in and the Cowboys raced from the court with a fat lead.