by Brandon Call
Daily Lobo
The UNM men's basketball team made its home debut with a 92-57 trouncing of Eastern Washington at The Pit on Monday.
The game also marked the first time Steve Alford has coached in The Pit since becoming the 19th head coach for Lobos.
"It's a tremendous honor to coach in The Pit," Alford said. "We didn't get the chance to exchange tapes with (Eastern Washington) until about 10 o'clock last night. Breaking down tape until 1 in the morning, a lot of people wouldn't think that is a very good job. But when you get the chance to be a head coach and be on that floor, you'll stay in there all night if you have to."
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The Lobos start their season 2-0 after defeating Colorado 54-47 last Friday in Boulder, Colo.
Alford said UNM showed significant improvements since Friday's contest.
"This was a pivotal game for us," he said. "When we get a big road win, you've got to back that up with a win at home. We're in a new system and a new program, and our guys learned a really good lesson."
After a low-scoring debut, the Lobos came out with something to prove offensively.
UNM started the game slow as the Eagles jumped out to a 10-3 lead early in the first half. The Lobos responded with a 12-0 run of their own. Sophomore forward Roman Martinez hit a three with 14:36 left in the first half to put UNM up for good 11-10.
"We got a little wake-up call being down 10-3," Alford said. "From that point on, we played really good basketball."
The Lobos extended their lead to as much as 22 points before ending the first half up 47-29.
The second half saw much of the same, as UNM came out on fire and increased its lead to as much as 39 points. The Lobos held on for a 35-point victory, 92-57.
Four UNM players scored in double digits, as senior guard Jamaal Smith posted a game-high 15 points. Junior forward Daniel Faris added 14 points to tie his career high. Senior guard J.R. Giddens added 13 points, 12 rebounds and three steals for the fourth double-double of his career. Junior guard Chad Toppert chipped in 12 points.
Alford said Giddens had a particularly good night offensively and defensively.
"There can't be too many guards in the country that rebound the way (Giddens) does," he said. "He is an outstanding rebounding guard. He got 13 points pretty easy, doing it the way we want him to do it. Overall, it was a tremendous game for him."
Giddens said he credits his teammates with finding him for the open shot.
"We did a good job of sharing the ball," he said. "We reversed the ball well. The big guys did a good job screening, and I got a few easy shots off that. So, overall, the more team discipline we have in running our plays and being unselfish with the basketball, the more successful we'll be."
Alford said the Lobos' depth played a big part in the win.
"We've got 10 guys that see playing time," he said. "These guys get a lot of minutes. We got everyone 14-plus minutes tonight. So, you can wear a lot of opponents down by the end of the game."
The Lobos held their opponents to 34 percent shooting and shot over 50 percent for the second straight game.
"This group likes to change things up defensively," Alford said. "We showed a little bit of three-quarter press. We showed a couple of zones. But 85 percent of the game, we were in man-to-man."
