BOULDER, Colo.—This was the debut Steve Alford craved and Jeff Bzdelik feared.
Freshman Jonathan Wills scored 13 points and J.R. Giddens sank a backbreaking basket with 33 seconds left as New Mexico beat Colorado 54-47 Friday night in a matchup of coaches making their debuts with new teams after successful stints at other schools.
Buffaloes senior star Richard Roby, who averaged 17.3 points last season, was nearly shut out for the first time in his career. His only point came on a free throw with 1:16 remaining that pulled Colorado to 50-45.
Marcus Hall, who led the Buffs with 11 points, drive to the basket with a minute left to make it 50-47, but Giddens, who had just two points, set up in the left corner and calmly swished a jumper to seal it and quiet the Coors Events Center crowd.
The Buffs trailed by double digits most of the game but began its run on Xavier Silas’ 3-pointer with 2:20 remaining that cut the Lobos’ lead to 49-43.
Alford, who was 152-106 in eight seasons at Iowa, replaced Ritchie McKay, who was fired after going 82-69 in five seasons, including 15-17 last year.
Bzdelik, a former coach of the Denver Nuggets and the Air Force Academy, bolted for Boulder after leading the Falcons to a 50-16 mark in two seasons, including a trip to the NIT Final Four last season. He replaced Ricardo Patton, who was let go after 11 years and a 7-20 farewell season.
Among Bzdelik’s assistants is longtime Wyoming coach Steve McClain, who was fired after last season.
This was the Lobos’ first opener away from The Pit in Albuquerque since 1986, when they began the season at a tournament in Hawaii. Their last true road opener was Dec. 1, 1979, at Colorado, and they won that one, too.
The Lobos, who beat the Buffs 106-65 last season in Albuquerque, jumped out to an early lead and took a 30-19 cushion into the locker room after closing the first half on a 9-2 run that featured a 3-pointer and two free throws by Wills.
Roby, who ranks seventh on Colorado’s all-time scoring list, was one of two Buffaloes starters shut out in the first half. The other was Hall, who redshirted last season and underwent minor thumb surgery last month.
Hall scored all of Colorado’s nine points over the first 10:18 of the second half, but his teammates went cold and New Mexico maintained a double-digit lead. Hall then committed charges on back-to-back possessions, one of them wiping off a basket for the Buffs.
Chad Toppert added 11 points for the Lobos, who outshot the Buffs 44 percent to 34 percent. Freshman Cory Higgins added 10 points for Colorado.
