It took just two plays for Danny Granger to break open the Saturday night contest against Brigham Young at The Pit.
Granger nailed a three right in the nose of Cougar defender Chris Miles for UNM's first points. On the next play, he took a steal from the defensive end and threw down a one-handed dunk to put the Lobos up 5-0.
UNM cruised to an easy 91-72 win during the last 39 minutes of the 40-minute game. It started with a 14-4 run to establish a lead that was never challenged.
"Needless to say, when we were up 5-0 and 7-0, that set a tone," head coach Ritchie McKay said. "Without a doubt, it's much easier to play with the lead than from behind."
The offensive spark plug agreed.
"We came out and established our defense quickly, and the offense carries over after that," Granger said. "It's really easy to play offense when you know you have your defense behind you."
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The 6-foot-8-inch forward finished with a team-high 20 points.
The entire Lobo squad was scorching in the first half. UNM hit 76 percent of its field-goal attempts, including 7-for-9 from three-point range, before halftime.
"Obviously, we can shoot the ball fairly well," McKay said. "If that's what teams give us, we're going to take them."
Troy DeVries was the most egregious assassin from outside. Feeding off double-teams on Granger and David Chiotti and finding the open spots on Lobo fast breaks, the senior guard hit his first five three-point attempts and finished the game 5-for-6, with 15 points.
UNM has won five of its last six games and sits tied with Air Force for second place in the Mountain West Conference at 6-4. Undefeated Utah is at the top of the Mountain with an 11-0 record.
And guess who's coming to Albuquerque on Monday night.
The Lobos look like they couldn't be more ready for the big showdown at The Pit. Granger seems closer to 100 percent than he has since minor knee surgery last month.
Chiotti is playing his best ball of the year, and Mark Walters has shown he can capably man the point guard position in place of injured starter Kris Collins, who likely won't be back this year.
"These last few games, we've played really well against Air Force and BYU," Granger said. "There's always room for improvement, but I think we're ready for Utah."
Chiotti said he thinks it will be an extremely competitive game.
"We're ready and confident," Chiotti said. "They have to come here to The Pit, and I think they haven't won here in three years. We're confident here, and we'll go out and play hard and execute our game plan."
It could be the most important matchup of the year for a squad looking to get into the postseason.
"Are we ready for Utah?" McKay said. "That remains to be seen. We're certainly going to show up. It's a game that bears great significance for us. If we win, I think we climb back on that tournament bubble."
