Air Force pushes New Mexico in 75-69 loss in MWC men's quarters

LAS VEGAS – Next week, New Mexico will begin play in the NCAA Tournament.

Air Force, meanwhile, will be watching it on television.

And New Mexico should be extremely happy about that.

On Thursday in the Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinals – and for the second time in less than three weeks – the Lobos had all they could handle from the Falcons. And they certainly wouldn’t want to see them again in The Big Dance.

Air Force, a 17.5-point underdog, trailed by just three when freshman guard Michael Lyons hit a jumper with 4:42 to play. But New Mexico, the eighth-ranked team in the country and the tournament's top seed, pulled away down the stretch for a 75-69 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center in front of an energized crowd filled with Lobos fans and others smelling a monumental upset.

“I think (Air Force coach) Jeff (Reynolds) in the last two to three weeks has done more with his team than anybody in this league,” New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. “You’ve seen it coming. They have played really hard. Their young guys are getting more confident. At least in the 80 minutes that we’ve played Air Force over the last (20) days, they’ve really given us a tremendous challenge.”

On Feb. 20, Air Force led New Mexico with less than a minute to play at The Pit before losing, 59-56. That performance, and Wednesday’s victory over Wyoming in the tournament play-in game, infused the Falcons with confidence. In an intense, physical and at times contentious game – one that felt like a road contest because of the huge advantage the Lobos had in fans – the Falcons embraced the atmosphere and played like they expected to win.

“We were hyped to play this game, to get a rematch against them,” Lyons said. “And unfortunately we fell short. But the environment was definitely good in helping us play better.”

Air Force shot 54 percent from the field (27-for-50), including 46.8 percent from 3-point range (7-for-15), But New Mexico’s size and athletic ability were a bit too much for the Falcons to handle. New Mexico shot 30 free throws (making 25), while the Falcons shot 12 (making eight). And the Lobos, who owned a 31-22 advantage on the boards, grabbed 11 offensive rebounds that led to 14 second-chance points.

“I thought their ability to get offensive stick-backs was quite frankly the difference,” Reynolds said.

Junior guard Darington Hobson, the MWC Player of the Year, led New Mexico with a game-high 28 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, and junior guard Dairese Gary added 20 points and went 14-for-15 from the line.

Junior forward Tom Fow led four Air Force players in double figures with 17 points.