Air Force Academy
New Mexico
Air Force Falls to New Mexico, 73-50
1/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2010
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) - New Mexico's two leading scorers may have only combined for seven points, but it didn't cost the Lobos against Air Force at Clune Arena Wednesday night.
Phillip McDonald had 25 points and New Mexico (17-3, 3-2 Mountain West Conference) connected on 13 3-pointers en route to a 73-50 win over the Falcons (8-9, 0-4). The Lobos beat the Falcons for the fifth consecutive time and picked up their third straight victory, while Air Force has dropped five of its last six games.
"This was the best we've executed in a long time," New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. "We only turned the ball over nine times, made the extra pass and got the ball going inside out. To have our two leading scorers not scoring much and win by 23 on the road, your execution has been pretty good."
McDonald hit a career-high seven 3-pointers on 10 attempts, and the Lobos sank nine of their 3-pointers in the second half to pull away. His 25 points was just two shy of his career-high total, which came earlier in the season against New Mexico State.
"I just wanted to work hard," McDonald said. "We started out sluggish, but I think I did a pretty good job of picking everybody's energy up. I've been dealing with inconsistency. We had a bad shooting night against Wyoming, but tonight, we had a good shooting night."
Darington Hobson, the Lobos' leading scorer, was held to just four points -- 12 off his season average -- but contributed 12 rebounds to the winning effort. Second-leading scorer Roman Martinez was held to three points, but Nate Garth scored 12 points, and Dairese Gary added 10 to pick up the slack.
The Falcons hit just 3-of-24 shots from beyond the arc in the game.
"We lost the game on the defensive end of the floor," Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. "Early on, we did a good job of defending the three, but in the second half, some of their threes came out of transition. I played 10 guys double minutes tonight, and five of those were freshmen. They've got to grow up fast, and now's their time."
Evan Washington led Air Force with 16 points, while Derek Brooks and Michael Lyons each added 10.
New Mexico dominated every facet of the game, outrebounding Air Force 38-29 and forcing 14 Falcons turnovers while committing nine. After hitting just 4-of-12 3-pointers in the opening half, the Lobos were 9-of-15 from 3-point range in the second half.
Air Force scored the game's first six points before New Mexico tied the game with back-to-back 3-pointers in a half that featured three lead changes and five ties. The Lobos held the Falcons to 1-of-11 shooting from 3-point range in the half to take a 31-24 lead to the locker room.
Air Force was once again without the services of leading scorer Grant Parker, who missed his 10th consecutive game with a severe groin strain. Reynolds said Parker is participating in limited practice drills, but didn't pinpoint a specific time for his return.
The Falcons head out on the road for their next two games, starting in Salt Lake City against the University of Utah on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m.
