by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
The UNM men's basketball team played perhaps its most balanced conference game of the season, defeating Wyoming 91-83 on Tuesday at The Pit.
Four Lobos scored in double figures, and every player on the team that got playing time scored at least six points.
UNM head coach Ritchie McKay said he was glad to see everybody get involved in the offense.
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"I think our bench is good," he said. "A lot of guys played and contributed."
With the win, the Lobos stopped a three-game losing streak and improved to 13-10 overall and 2-6 in the Mountain West Conference.
Wyoming slipped to 13-9 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
Ryan Kersten led the Lobos with 20 points, going 14-of-16 from the free-throw line. Darren Prentice scored 13 points and was 2-for-3 from the 3-point line.
Tony Danridge scored 11 points and Chad Toppert added 10. Aaron Johnson grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and scored nine points for the Lobos.
Kersten said it was good to see UNM play well as a whole.
"We gutted one out as a team, and we got a win," he said. "Hopefully, we can build on it and get a streak going into conference."
Wyoming was led by Brad Jones and James Spencer, who scored 21 points apiece.
UNM trailed 34-30 at halftime but used a 35-16 run in the second half to build a 15-point lead with 5:36 remaining.
McKay praised his team for slowing down Wyoming after halftime, despite the Cowboys shooting 55 percent in the first half.
"I think our guys did a good job of defending in the second half," McKay said. "I was really proud of our effort."
After shooting just 37 percent in the first half, UNM converted 60 percent of its field goals in the second half.
Danridge said he gives credit to the post play in the second half.
"The bigs won the game today," he said. "They just played real tough. They scored down low and defended well."
Kersten said getting the win against Wyoming was vital after the recent skid.
"(It was) very important, seeing that we lost our last game at home and lost a close one on the road," he said. "We played well, and to lose another one wouldn't have been good for us and
our confidence."
Men's basketball at Colorado State
Saturday, 4 p.m.
Fort Collins, Colo.
