After being held to only six first-half points, San Diego State University's standout post Randy Holcomb exploded for 19 in the second half to lead the Aztecs to a 78-65 win over the UNM men's basketball team in the Pit Saturday.
The Lobos' (13-7, 3-3 in the Mountain West Conference) two premier post players, Patrick Dennehy and Jamaal Williams, had stellar offensive games themselves, combining for 31 points and 18 rebounds. But Holcomb and center Mike Mackell's combined 46 points - 11 of Mackell's came at the free throw line - helped guide the way for the Aztecs (13-8, 2-4 MWC), who had previously lost 10 straight, and 18 of their last 19 to the Lobos. It was also San Diego State's first win in The Pit since 1984.
"I think every player that gets a little hot feels that he's unstoppable," Holcomb said. "I feel that when I make a few shots, it's over; I'm going to make every shot that I throw up at the basket. And that's how I felt tonight in the second half."
After shooting 52 percent in the first half, UNM was held to only 33 percent in the second half, as San Diego State managed to extend its perimeter defense to hold guard Ruben Douglas to only seven points on one-of-12 shooting for the game. Eric Chatfield and Tim Lightfoot each had 12, but the Aztecs' defense on the usually sharp-shooting Douglas might have proved the difference offensively for the Lobos.
"They just played shut-out defense," Douglas said. "They kind of limited my touches, kept me out of my rhythm and I just had some shots today that I normally make that I didn't hit tonight."
The Aztecs jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead in the game's opening moments, and for a time, it looked like UNM might be able to keep Holcomb in check.
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Dennehy slapped away a Holcomb shot attempt with less than 16 minutes to play and Holcomb scored his final points of the half with more than 10 minutes remaining.
Meanwhile, Williams was twisting and twirling his way to 10 first half points - aided by some nifty dishes from Chatfield - and Chatfield scored nine of his 12 as the Lobos took a 34-32 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the teams kept it close by matching each other basket for basket.
With 9:34 to play, the Lobos took their largest lead at 56-52 on a nice no-look feed from Chatfield to Dennehy, but the Aztecs would not fade.
They took their own four-point lead at 63-59 at the 5:03 mark and with 2:53 to play, increased it to eight at 69-61 on a Holcomb 3-pointer from the corner, which proved to be the nail in the coffin.
UNM would only manage four points the rest of the way as San Diego State built on its final margin of victory at the free throw line.
During the second half, the Aztecs connected on 15 of their 22 shot attempts for 68 percent. Eight of those belonged to the senior Holcomb who had his way inside with the younger Lobo post players.
"The difference in the game, obviously, was us not being able to handle them inside," UNM coach Fran Fraschilla said. "Then we ran out of bullets offensively. The kind of team we have, if a scorer like Ruben Douglas goes one for 12 that's going to make it tough for us."
Douglas came into the game averaging more than 15 points per game.
UNM point guard Senque Carey was limited to only 21 minutes because of a severe muscle cramp in his left calf. He hauled in nine defensive rebounds, scored two points and had one assist on the night.
Fraschilla said he expected Carey to return for the Lobos' game against the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Tuesday.
With a win Saturday, the Lobos would have been alone in third place in the conference. Instead, they slipped into a three-way tie with Brigham Young University, which defeated the University of Wyoming 85-70 Saturday, and UNLV. All have identical 3-3 conference records. The University of Utah leads the MWC with a perfect 6-0 conference record.
"All we're worried about right now is who's next on the schedule," Fraschilla said. "We're not worried about impact on conference races, or anything like that."
The Lobos and Rebels split their two regular-season meetings last year, with each team recording a victory on their home floor.
Game time is Tuesday at 7 p.m. in The Pit. The game will be televised live on KRQE-Channel 13 and on 770 KOB-AM.
