Albuquerque – Three games into the season and New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay is talking about the Lobos being a powerhouse.
Having a player such as J.R. Giddens can trigger that kind of bravado.
Giddens, a 6-foot-5 former Kansas guard, scored a career- high 25 points and New Mexico got a huge first-half lift from its bench in a 106-65 rout of Colorado on Tuesday night.
“It’s a good statement for hopefully our return back to being one of the regional powers, if not being nationally ranked one day,” McKay said of the Lobos’ dismantling of the Buffaloes.
New Mexico’s runaway victory over a Big 12 opponent followed similar lopsided wins for the Lobos over much smaller programs – Abilene Christian and Sacramento State.
Giddens, who sat out last season after transferring to New Mexico (3-0), shook off a slow start and dissected the Buffaloes’ defense with his quickness, slashing moves to the basket and outside jumper that repeatedly found the hoop.
What must have looked like Giddens’ A-game to the Buffaloes was a pedestrian effort to McKay.
“J.R. just played average,” McKay said. “He’s a tremendous player. If you haven’t seen his maturity, you probably haven’t followed his career long enough.”
Giddens’ collegiate career was supposed to be at Kansas, but he left the Jayhawks after his sophomore season, during which he struggled at times with his shooting and failed to live up to his McDonald’s All-American status.
“He wants to prove all the (critics) wrong, but he’s doing it within our team structure,” McKay said. “He’s got a heartbeat that makes this team special.”
Colorado is the first of three Big 12 schools the Lobos will play this season – Kansas State and Texas Tech will follow – and Giddens was obviously trying to make his own statement.
“Kansas what?” Giddens said when asked if his days in Lawrence seemed like a long time ago. “I’m going to click my heels twice because I’m not in Kansas anymore.”
Colorado coach Ricardo Patton said his team didn’t see the rout coming.
“Sometimes you can tell young players what they need to do, but until they’re actually thrown in the fire … and that’s what we were thrown into tonight,” Patton said. “They (the Lobos) may not ever shoot the ball as well as they shot it tonight.”
To the contrary, McKay said he thinks New Mexico’s best is yet to come.
“We’re pretty excited about what’s evolving,” McKay said. “Privately, we think we’ve got more than just J.R.”
Freshman guard Xavier Silas led the Buffaloes (1-1) with 14 points. Richard Roby and Kalvin Bay each scored 12.
