Lobo big men play big

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - New Mexico Men's basketball team is undersized, but has played bigger than its collective stature the last two games.

Wins last week over Utah and Wyoming have propelled the Lobos into third place in the Mountain West Conference standings at the one-quarter point of the league season. The Lobos are 2-2 in the conference and 16-3 overall.

Utah featured a 7-foot-3 player and a 7-footer, while Wyoming's tallest player was 6-foot-10. The Lobos tallest players, sophomores A.J. Hardeman and Will Brown, are 6-foot-8.

On Saturday in Laramie, Wyoming, Hardeman and Brown overcame their size deficiency in a big way. Hardeman led the Lobos in scoring with 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Brown added four points, including a monster dunk just under five minutes to go to seal the Lobos victory.

UNM coach Steve Alford credits the success of Hardeman and Brown to hard work as freshmen going against former Lobo big man Daniel Faris in practice.

"I think he (Hardeman) and Will (Brown) have shown great improvement in going against a guy like Daniel Faris last year," said Alford.

"That's great getting to play against someone like that. They developed great chemistry and it's fun to watch their success now."

The Lobos will return to action Wednesday night in Colorado Springs, Colorado against the Air Force Academy.