Hobson has 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 12 New Mexico over Wyoming, 83-61

By Tim Korte, AP
Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Hobson leads No. 12 New Mexico over Wyoming, 83-61

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Darington Hobson had 20 points and 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season, and New Mexico’s Steve Alford won his 300th game as a Division I coach as the No. 12 Lobos beat Wyoming 83-61 on Wednesday night.

Phillip McDonald scored 14 points and Roman Martinez had 13 for New Mexico (24-3, 10-2 Mountain West), which has won 10 straight — all in conference. The last time the Lobos did that in league play, Michael Cooper was suiting up during the 1977-78 season.

Arthur Bouedo led Wyoming (9-17, 2-10) with 17 points and Djibril Thiam had 10, but the Cowboys lost their sixth straight and dropped to 0-9 on the road this season. They haven’t won in Albuquerque since 2003, a seven-game run.

New Mexico was a bit ragged at times, especially on occasional defensive lapses that had Alford looking down the bench for someone to send in. But playing in front of their seventh straight sellout at The Pit, the Lobos had no trouble against the overmatched Cowboys.

Alford, who even rested his starters down the stretch, improved to 300-178 in 15 seasons as a Division I coach, and 378-207 overall if you include his four seasons at Division III Manchester College in Indiana.

The Lobos scored the first 11 points and raced to a 22-8 lead midway through the first half after consecutive 3-pointers by Jamal Fenton and Nate Garth. Hobson added a nice no-look pass to McDonald for a layup that put New Mexico up 26-10.

The Cowboys cut the deficit to 29-18 after New Mexico’s defense went soft and allowed two easy layups by Thiam with 2:58 before halftime. Alford took a timeout to chew out his players, and the Lobos answered with an 8-0 burst that included two 3-pointers by Martinez.

New Mexico led 30-17 at halftime, with nine of the 10 players scoring, and the Lobos kept the momentum going after the break.

Martinez made a jumper, McDonald hit a 3-pointer and Martinez grabbed a steal of Wyoming’s inbounds pass for a layup to start a 12-3 run. Minutes later, Hobson twice took alley-oop passes from Jamal Fenton during a 9-1 burst that gave the Lobos a 61-32 lead and had fans roaring with 12 minutes to go.

The Lobos won their third straight over Wyoming and have beaten the Cowboys six times in the last seven meetings.

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