New Mexico cruises to easy win against Air Force

Air Force fans hadn’t even shaken the numbness out of their extremities from the cold walk into Clune Arena by the time New Mexico had Tuesday’s game under control.

The Falcons have been competitive in all their Mountain West losses this season, but not against the Lobos. Air Force never led and never crept within double digits for the final 26:46 of a 75-61 loss to the Lobos that was a lot more one-sided than the score indicated.

“It’s just one of those days,” said guard/forward Mike Fitzgerald, who led the Falcons with 13 points. “It kind of just happens. It’s unfortunate, but it’s one game. You have to move on to the next one.”

New Mexico, which was coming off a big comeback win against BYU, seems to be peaking. The Lobos are 16-7 overall and 4-4 in the Mountain West. Air Force is 12-9 and 3-5 in conference play, and the Falcons hope this loss wasn’t a bad sign for the future.  

“You want to take a better step,” coach Jeff Reynolds said.

When New Mexico forward Drew Gordon threw down an alley-oop dunk to make it 13-5, Gordon had 10 points and the Falcons already looked like they were in for a long night.

When the Falcons overplayed the perimeter, the Lobos would dump it in, or would get offensive rebounds and easy baskets. When the Falcons collapsed on Gordon, the Lobos used their four-guard lineup to knock down shots. New Mexico hit 7-of-14 3-point shots in the first half and led 43-24.

“They didn’t do anything different than what we expected,” Reynolds said. “We just didn’t get there fast enough.”

If the Falcons had any hope after a 4-0 run to start the second half, it was quickly dashed. Kendall Williams stole the ball from Todd Fletcher in the backcourt and dunked it. Then on Air Force’s next possession, Taylor Stewart tried throwing an inbounds pass off Phillip McDonald to avoid a 5-second violation, but McDonald caught the ball. That started a fast break that led to an alley-oop dunk by A.J. Hardeman.

The Falcons were kept at arm’s length the rest of the way, never getting closer than 15 points in the second half until their final possession. Whenever Air Force seemed ready to make a run, the Lobos were always able to get a couple baskets.

“We just didn’t have it today,” guard Michael Lyons said. “We didn’t have any energy.”