All the Windex in the world couldn't keep the UNM men's basketball team from streaking to an 85-74 victory over Cal State Northridge on Monday at The Pit.
In a game that was more lopsided than the final score suggests, UNM made sure to close out this game after it choked away a nine-point lead with 3:38 left in Saturday's depressing 72-71 defeat at the hands of UCF.
Leading by 16 at the half, 46-30, the Lobos went on a 14-5 run covering 4:28 to gain their largest lead of the night with just over 10 minutes left in the game. Roman Martinez, who scored 11 of his 20 points in the first half, hit a 3 to extend the lead to 23 at 71-48. Martinez hit a career-high five 3-pointers.
"This was a good bounce-back game for us," head coach Steve Alford said. "This was really a must-win game for us going into the Cancun Tournament, and I thought the guys did a great job."
In his return to The Pit, former Valley standout Josh Jenkins had just six points on 2-for-10 shooting. Jenkins entered the night as the Matadors' leading scorer, averaging 15.7 points per game.
But the night belonged to Martinez.
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With 3:13 left in the game, Martinez hit a 3-pointer to put the Lobos up 81-67. Jenkins tried to lead his team back, penetrating the lane, but Nate Garth's pesky hands forced Jenkins to turn the ball over, leading to a thunderous slam on the other end by Tony Danridge that sent The Pit into a decibel-deafening roar at 83-67 and put the horn in the Matadors' side.
Danridge added 16 points as the Lobos improved to 3-2, and they will head to Cancun to take on Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday.
"We're ready to go down and play," Martinez said. "I'm telling you, though, it's not going to be easy. We're going to have to defend."
Alford decided to shake up his starting lineup, choosing to go with three freshmen and two sophomores, replacing Danridge, Martinez and Faris with Will Brown, A.J. Hardeman and Jonathan Wills.
UNM had 54 points off the bench, but 44 of them came from typical starters Danridge, Martinez and Faris.
"(That was done) to send whatever needed to be sent," Alford said. "We lost two games that, to be honest, we should have won. We played better for more than the opponent played; we just didn't finish. I thought everyone responded well - I thought the starters responded well and the bench responded well."
UNM was also much improved from the free-throw line on Tuesday. The Lobos were 26-for-32 on the night, up from a paltry 24-for-39 free-throw shooting performance against UCF.
"This was just a game where we made foul shots," Alford said. "We didn't make foul shots against Central Florida, but we got a couple more stops in the last four minutes. That's the key - against Creighton and Central Florida, we didn't stop anybody in the last five minutes of the game. It's a toughness deal."
Men's basketball vs. VCU
Cancun
Saturday, 9 p.m.
