Men's basketball scores cheap tacos for students

Heath Schroyer was dressed appropriately for the occasion.

The Wyoming head coach suited up in all black for the Cowboys’ burial in the depths of The Pit on Wednesday, as the UNM men’s basketball team blitzed to an 83-61 win.
The only thing that was remotely in doubt — other than another UNM win — was if Lobo fans would get their reduced-price tacos from Taco Bell on Thursday (the fast-food restaurant hands out cheap tacos if the Lobos score 65 points or more) — that is until UNM guard Jamal Fenton drained three free throws with 9:49 to go in the game, giving UNM a 67-37 advantage.

UNM, 24-3 overall and 10-2 in the Mountain West Conference, earned its 10th straight conference victory, keeping the Lobos in first place in the MWC standings, even though BYU thrashed Colorado State 92-70 on Wednesday in Fort Collins, Colo.
If anyone questioned if the Lobos would have a letdown at home after two straight road wins against UNLV and Utah, it was quickly answered early in the first half.
The Lobos led by 37-20 at the midway point, on the way to head coach Steve Alford’s 300th Division I win.

“This was a great game, and I really thought that any time you come back off the road, this is the biggest game,” Alford said. “That is because you haven’t played (at home) in a while. You get a little complacent, because you think you can win just because you come back home. We did what we do with 23 assists, eight turnovers. We just share the basketball and our defense is getting better and better.”
The Lobos had three players who scored points in the double-figures, Roman Martinez scoring 13, while Philip McDonald had 14.

With 20 points and 10 boards, Darington Hobson earned his ninth double-double of the season.
Schroyer said Hobson is the most versatile player in the MWC.

“I think that if he is, if not the best, one of the best,” he said. “He’s really, really good. I was very impressed with him, and he just does a lot of
different things.”

It was just another night for Hobson.

Feeling the energy of The Pit crowd, he started off the game by scoring six of the Lobos’ first eight points, all of which came with Hobson penetrating the lane and putting up easy layups against a suspect Wyoming defense.

However, Hobson said it’s not about individual effort against the Cowboys.
“It was just important for us to keep getting better. It wasn’t really about coming out and putting the hammer down,” he said. “We wanted to come out and play with the same effort that we have for the past eight games. We just wanted to play as ourselves and play hard.”