Lobos slam Aggies 75-58

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - After scoring early and often, the New Mexico Lobos withstood a late comeback by the rival New Mexico State Aggies to win Saturday night.

"Well, obviously a very good win for us. To force a team into 31 turnovers, the disappointing thing is that they're even in the game with five minutes to go. Every young team has to battle through some things," Lobos Head Coach Steve Alford said.

The Lobos are now 8-0 for the first time in 11 seasons, while New Mexico State drops to 2-5 on the year.

The Cherry and Silver set the tone early by locking down the Aggie offensive attack. In the first 11:23 seconds, New Mexico State mustered a mere 5 points.

New Mexico capitalized on their strong defense by putting together an impressive 33-10 run during the first 15:40.

However, the Lobos' youth showed a little in the second half as they let a 26 point lead dwindle all the way down to 9.

"Yeah, it was good to see them not cave in and stay aggressive at least," Aggies Head Coach Marvin Menzies said.

Up nine with 3:04 left, UNM put the game on ice by scoring the final eight points to seal their second win of the season against NMSU.

Senior Roman Martinez led the Lobos in scoring with 21. Junior Darington Hobson was second best with 14.

The Aggies played a fairly sloppy game committing 31 turnovers, which resulted in 36 Lobo points.