ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—It didn’t seem to matter who New Mexico put on the floor Saturday against Colorado State.
Everyone that coach Steve Alford inserted contributed to the Lobos’ 82-64 victory.
“It was just a really good team effort,” Alford said. “I thought we got good minutes out of everybody we played.”
New Mexico point guard Dairese Gary led the way with 17 points and five assists, but the bench contributed 27 points and 17 rebounds.
Each man on the roster compiled at least five points and two rebounds.
“Our bench has had a really good two weeks,” Alford said. “If our bench keeps getting better, we can turn into a pretty dangerous team.”
It was close early, with seven ties and six lead changes until New Mexico (18-3, 4-2 Mountain West) went on a 16-1 late in the first half to go up 36-22.
The lead never was in single digits again.
“We knew we would get a good shot from (Colorado State),” Alford said. “They shook up their lineup, started five guards, which I don’t think they have done this year. I thought our guys really handled it well. We shot the ball well. We moved the ball. We did a lot of good things. Our backboard work was outstanding.”
The Rams (11-8, 2-3) changed their starting lineup to get better activity on the floor, but it didn’t pan out quite the way coach Tim Miles planned. New Mexico had a 48-30 rebounding advantage, including 17-5 on the offensive end.
“It didn’t help us because we got hurt on the boards,” he said. “But we got hurt on the boards because we didn’t guard the ball.”
