Rebs put No. 15 Lobos in 0-2 hole

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Kendall Wallace got into an efficient flow. So smooth, in fact, that he made nearly everything he put up.

Wallace made six of his seven 3-pointers in the second half and finished with a career-high 21 points, leading UNLV to a 74-62 win over No. 15 New Mexico on Saturday to end the Lobos' 19-game winning streak at The Pit.

"Sometimes you get that feel," said Wallace, who came off the bench to spark the Rebels (13-3, 1-1 Mountain West). "They left me open a couple of times and I knocked a couple down. I had that feel. I was just shooting without even thinking about it."

Wallace wound up 7-of-10 from 3-point range and Tra'Von Willis scored 20, helping UNLV salvage an important split on a demanding road trip. Three nights earlier, the Rebels lost at No. 25 BYU after faltering down the stretch in its Mountain West opener.

"I'm proud of the guys. They hung in there," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. "Much like the BYU game, we'd edge out there and they'd come back. We finished it much better today than we did Wednesday. I'm really happy for our guys. Good win in a tough place against a good team."

Dairese Gary scored 17 points, Roman Martinez had 15 and Darington Hobson added 14 for New Mexico (14-3, 0-2), which won its first 12 games to reclaim a spot in the national rankings for the first time in 11 seasons but now has lost three of its last five.

The Lobos have only one senior, and their youth has been showing lately. They lost at San Diego State on Tuesday, and Wallace ended any hope for a bounce-back victory.

"It's fragile right now. We've got a young team," New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. "Those young guys, they've never been hit in the mouth. We haven't had that all year long. We're going to see how we handle getting punched in the mouth."

UNLV led 36-30 at the break but New Mexico chipped at the margin, got the fans involved and seemed poised to run the Rebels out of The Pit. The Lobos led 46-45 with 10:31 remaining after Will Brown scored after a nice feed from Hobson to cap a 6-0 burst.

But Wallace steadied everything for UNLV with two 3-pointers and the Rebels scored the next 11 points for a 56-46 lead with 6:34 to go.

The Lobos weren't finished, but neither was Wallace.

He kept shooting and hit consecutive 3-pointers to put the Rebels up 64-51 with 4:57 remaining. When New Mexico trimmed the deficit to 68-62 on a 3-point play by Gary with 1:44 on the clock, Wallace stroked another 3-pointer that silenced the crowd.