The UNM men's basketball team used a stout defense to knock off UNLV 59-45 on Tuesday at The Pit.
The sold-out crowd of 18,018 - the second consecutive sold-out game - made it an emotional win on Senior Night, senior guard Jamaal Smith said.
"For our crowd to come out this year and support us like they have is just incredible," he said. "This is huge. I've never played in front of anything like this. It was just incredible. It's going to be hard to let go of that."
The Lobos' stingy defense held the Rebels to their lowest scoring game of the season.
The fans helped carry the Lobo defense, UNM head coach Steve Alford said.
"We're not this good defensively," he said. "We have a long way to go defensively. But in this building, this crowd makes us awfully good defensively, and I'm very appreciative of the support we've gotten this year."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
In the first half, the Rebels didn't get to double-digit scoring until 6:11 left in the first half. Both teams exchanged baskets until UNM put together a 12-0 run in the middle of the first half. However, the Rebels put together a run of their own to tie the game at 20-20 with 2:36 left in the first.
UNM led 24-22 at the half.
The Lobos came out of the locker room on fire, going on a 13-0 run. UNLV didn't make a field goal after halftime until there was 12:32 remaining and only grabbed two rebounds up to that point.
The defensive intensity in the second half was a big part of the win, Alford said.
"We just gave that kind of effort," he said. "I think we held them scoreless for six or seven minutes and a 13-0 run - that was a big key."
Senior J.R. Giddens recorded his ninth double-double of the season and was named MVP of the game after putting up 17 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and a steal.
The Lobos dished out 14 assists as a team with only nine turnovers.
UNLV's standout guard Wink Adams, who is averaging 16.1 points per game, led all scorers in the first half with 12 points. However, he was shutout in the second half and fouled out with 5:08 left in the game.
Aside from Giddens, junior Daniel Faris was the only Lobo scoring in double-figures with 10 points.
Giddens said he was pleased his team pulled out the win, especially in front of such a passionate crowd on Senior Night.
"We're just blessed to have this fan support that we did this game," he said. "It was wonderful. It was just a good team effort. We're just speechless and blessed to have this support."
Men's basketball at Colorado State
Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Fort Collins, Colo.
