If you are one of those Pit fans who don't like to stand during a Lobos men's basketball game, this was the contest for you.

About the only time the crowd was on its feet today (Saturday) was during the singing of the National Athem.

The University of New Mexico Lobos and the Air Force Falcons came out and put The Pit to sleep early and the Lobos fans never really woke up. At the first media timeout of the game at 15:30, it was 0-0.

Fortunatelty, for the Lobos, their offense did wake up and UNM rolled to an easy 59-44 Mountain West Conference win over the Falcons.

The win pushed UNM's record to 15-4 overall and 2-2 in league. Air Force fell to 10-7 and 2-2. The Lobos' next game is Tuesday in The Pit against Utah. The Utes lost a home game today 55-52 to Brigham Young.

The Lobos probably won this game in the first half when they made an offensive surge in the final five minutes of that half to take a 32-17 halftime lead. It was too much of a deficit for a Falcons' offense that relies on a patient, time-consuming Princeton offense.

UNM was led by senior J.R. Giddens with 15 points. Giddens also got his sixth double-double of the season by adding 12 rebounds.

Other UNM scorers: Roman Martinez 13, Chad Toppert 9, Jamaal Smith 9, Darren Prentice 7, Dairese Gary 3, Jonathan Wills 3. Monquel Pegues and Johnnie Harris did not score.

The Lobos shot 21-of-51 from the field for 41.2 percent. Air Force was 11-of-40 for 27.5 percent. The Falcons were 5-of-20 from the floor in the first half for 25 percent.

The Lobos were never really challenged by the slower Falcons in the second half.

The first half was a cold start for both UNM and and the visiting Falcons.

Eventually, things warmed up for the Lobos and they took a 32-17 lead into the break. UNM started the game going 3-of-13 from the field and finished the half going 9-of-13.

The Lobos shot 12-of-26 from the floor for 46.2 percent. Martinez led all scorers with 10 points. Prentice scored seven points.

The Falcons never really found their range.

Neither team showed up with much of an offensive game. To put the first half into perspective, Air Force held the Lobos to only eight points in the first nine minutes of play and had to call a timeout because the Falcons were in trouble down by five points.

Walking into the first media timeout at 15:30, it was 0-0.

UNM's Faris came out of that timeout with two free throws. He missed them both. Air Force's next shot got stuck between the backboard and the rim.

Giddens finally cracked the ice on the Lobos' rim with a steal and a layup over Air Force's Anderson at 14:43. Air Force came down and knocked down a 3-pointer from the right side to take a 3-2 lead.

It was their only lead of the half.

UNM's Smith then knocked down a 3-pointer from the right side and UNM's Wills followed with a trey from the left side. Air Force then called its timeout at the 11:00 mark.

At that point, Air Force was 1-of-11 from the field for a sizzling 9.1 percent. UNM was 3-of-10.

The scoring really opened up after that. Air Force scored its second field goal of the game. UNM got a basket from Martinez underneath and a 3-pointer from Prentice. At the 6:33 timeout, The Lobos were up 13-6.

UNM came out and got a 3-pointer from Toppert and a nifty spin move inside from Giddens. UNM had a full-court press on and Air Force took the in-bounds pass and walked. At the 5:47 timeout, UNM was up 18-7. Air Force still had scored only two field goals at that mark.

The Falcons' aim improved down the stretch. They actually hit back-to-back field goals to trail UNM 20-12 with 3:48 to play. Air Force was now 4-of-18 from the field for 22.2 percent. UNM was 8-of-20.

The press thrown out by Alford created some UNM movement that carried over to the Lobos offense. The final five minutes actually provided some nice basketball for the Lobos.