U. can't win 'em all

ALBUQUERQUE — For a change, there was no second-half comeback for the Utah basketball team Monday night.

The Utes have saved their best for last all season long, but couldn't find the magic against New Mexico, which brought Utah's 18-game winning streak to an end with a 65-54 victory before a raucous crowd of 17,360 at The Pit. With the loss the 12th-ranked Utes dropped to 11-1 in Mountain West Conference play and 23-4 overall.

It wasn't too surprising that the Utes' winning streak, tied for second best in history, ended on a February night at The Pit. In February of 1998, the Utes' 18-game winning streak ended here as did a 17-game winning streak in February of 1991.

There was little doubt about this one. The Lobos took the fight to the Utes early, watched the Utes briefly take the lead, then turned it on in the second half behind the play of guard Mark Walters, who came into the game with a 9.3 average.

Walters scored a season-high 22 points on 7 of 11 from the field, while Danny Granger, who didn't play against Utah in Salt Lake, chipped in 15.

The victory moved the Lobos to 20-6 on the season and to 7-4 in Mountain West Conference play. The Lobos felt they needed this win to have a chance at an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament if they don't win the conference tournament.

"It was a great win for our guys," said UNM coach Ritchie McKay. "It should help us the rest of the season. Hopefully we gained some confidence and proved we can be a great team like Utah."

Utah, which ranks No. 2 in the nation in field-goal percentage, has relied on its solid shooting all season. However, the Utes struggled all night and finished with a season-worst 36.7 from the field. Andrew Bogut had another double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but had his second-worst shooing game of the year, making just 7 of 17 shots.

"The shots just weren't falling and they capitalized on our misses," said Bogut.

The loud crowd was also a factor and seemed to rattle the Utes and take them out of their game at times.

"This is a pretty adverse situation and to get everyone on the same page was hard," said Ute coach Ray Giacoletti. "You can't have four guys knowing what is going on and one guy does not. It's so loud, it's hard to communicate."

After trailing 31-26 at halftime nearly the same score they trailed at Air Force (32-26), the Utes didn't have it in the second half.