by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
There's nothing like an opponent with a 10-game losing streak coming to town to boost team morale.
The UNM men's basketball team handled Texas Christian 74-58 on Saturday at The Pit to stop a two-game losing streak of its own.
The Lobos were without leading scorer J.R. Giddens. He was suspended indefinitely by head coach Ritchie McKay prior to
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Saturday's game.
McKay said the team had good chemistry in the win.
"I thought our guys played really well," he said. "I thought we played hard defensively."
With the win, UNM improved to 15-12 overall and 4-8 in the Mountain West Conference.
TCU fell to 10-15 and 2-11 in conference and lost its 11th straight MWC game.
Lobo shooting guard Chad Toppert tied a career high with 20 points. Toppert did most of his damage from beyond the arc, hitting six 3-pointers.
All nine of his field-goal attempts came from 3-point range. He added two free throws and five rebounds.
Toppert said he was in the zone against TCU.
"I felt really good from beyond the arc tonight," he said. "These guards did a great job of finding me in transition. I was just doing my job, which is just put the ball in the hole."
The Lobos did a good job of rotating the ball and finding Toppert, who is a gifted shooter, McKay said.
"When he's open, we always think it's going in," he said. "We see it on a regular basis. We look for him and others when they're open in
transition."
Point guard Darren Prentice was also impressive for the Lobos. He scored 16 points and dished out a career-high eight assists. Prentice was also a force on the defensive end and finished the game with two steals.
Prentice said he is working to become a solid all-around player.
"I just try to add a lot of different characteristics to my game so I could be a threat out there," he said. "I just try to be a playmaker."
Toppert said Prentice's up-tempo pace helped the team get open shots against the Horned Frogs.
"Darren's real quick," he said. "He seems to push the ball in transition all the time. He knows to find me in transition if I'm trailing. He found me tonight, and I was able to put them in."
Guard Jamaal Smith also scored in double figures for UNM. He finished with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. He also grabbed four rebounds.
Most of the team made contributions in the win, McKay said.
"I'm really proud about some of the things that don't show up on the stat sheet - like Jeff Henfield's play," McKay said. "I thought he was great. Daniel Faris played well."
The Lobos finished with 17 assists and forced 20 TCU turnovers, scoring 25 points off those turnovers. They also held the Horned Frogs to 23 percent shooting from
3-point range.
Forward Kevin Langford led the Horned Frogs with 23 points but was the only TCU player to score in double figures.
Toppert said the win can spark UNM the rest of the season.
"It feels great to get back on the winning track right now," he said. "We got our confidence high going into a big game on Tuesday. This win is just going to help us out."
McKay said the Lobos showed some improvement Saturday.
"I think we're a good team that's trying to get better," he said. "I thought we took a step in that
direction."
Men's basketball vs. San Diego State
Tuesday, 7 p.m.
The Pit
