Television station KASY might not have realized it, but the University of New Mexico did play a men's basketball game on Friday night in Hawaii.

And My oh My, what a second-half show the Lobos produced.

After a sluggish opening 20 minutes, the Lobos (6-0) began the second half with a stirring 19-1 run in just four minutes on their way to an 83-71 victory against the University of Hawaii.

The game, which began shortly after 11 p.m. Mountain Time, was scheduled to be televised by KASY My50-TV.

But come tip off, fans who tuned in saw only the Lobo football coaches show. And it wasn't until 11:25 p.m. before the station finally ran a crawler which read: Due to technical difficulties, the Lobos game will be delayed.

Just before halftime, the crawler changed to: Due to technical difficulties, the Lobos game has been cancelled.

Uh, no. The game wasn't delayed or canceled.

Just the TV coverage back to New Mexico.

The Journal tried to phone KASY to find out what the problem was, but only reached an answering machine.

The Lobos' offense wasn't cancelled either, but it sure was delayed.

UNM made just 15-of-38 shots in the first half (39.5 percent) and 3-of-13 from 3-point range. The Lobos had nine first-half turnovers, one more than their season average of miscues for an entire game.

Most importantly, they trailed 36-35.

"It wasn't anything Xs and Os," said UNM coach Steve Alford. "It was just a demeanor thing. I don't think it was from being out here, but it can happen when you're 5-0 and you win some games by more than a 20-point margin. And they took the floor and played that way."

If it was island fever, New Mexico shook it off as soon as the second half started. After senior Roman Martinez missed the second of two free throws, teammate Darington Hobson grabbed the rebound and made a layup to give the Lobos a 38-36 lead. They would never trail again.

Hobson had three more field goals in the run - one on a slam dunk - as did Phillip McDonald. Two of McDonald's were from 3-point range.

Hawaii finally got its first field goal of the half with 11:58 left, then Martinez banged home back-to-back treys to push the lead to 60-40.

Up 62-43, the Lobos again got a little flat. They went more than five minutes without a field goal and the Rainbow Warriors (2-3) closed the gap to 66-54 and had two good opportunities to make it closer.

But Alford called a timeout with less than five minutes left and Hobson scored on a three-point play on the next possession.

Done deal.

"We called timeout, because we were taking a couple of quick shots," said Hobson, who had a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. "We made some quick adjustments and it worked. We were taking good shots, but we just kind of played into what they were trying to do, which was press and speed up the game. Once we slowed it down, we were fine."

Sophomore A.J. Hardeman continued his fine early-season play. He had his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds - seven of the boards coming in the first half when UNM was struggling. Hardeman had three put-backs and seven of the Lobos' 22 offensive boards.

New Mexico outrebounded Hawaii 43-35. It's the first time the Rainbows have lost the battle of the boards all season.

New Mexico also shot 57 percent (16-28) in the second half.

"I don't think our intensity was there in the first half," said Martinez, who had 19 points and five rebounds. "We didn't concentrate. Coach told us to toughen up and concentrate on little things. He got into us at halftime. He made sure he let us know we didn't give the effort we needed."

The Lobos actually were impressive at the outset of the game, jumping to a 6-0 lead. But the shooting woes soon started and the Rainbows made it interesting.

Hawaii's Hiram Thompson hit a pair of 3s during a 10-3 run and Hawaii led 19-13. There were seven lead changes and four ties in the first half, which ended with Hawaii in front 36-35 after Jeremy Lay scored his team's final nine points.

The Rainbows, who were missing two starters because of injuries and suspensions, got a game-high 26 points from Lay while Thompson had 15.

The Lobos return home to face Cal on Wednesday in the Pit before playing host to New Mexico State next Saturday.

NEW MEXICO (6-0)
Hardeman 4-7 2-2 10, Hobson 10-19 1-2 21, Gary 3-7 2-7 8, McDonald 3-7 2-5 10, Martinez 5-14 5-6 19, Dennis 1-3 0-0 2, Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Garth 2-4 1-3 6, Fenton 2-3 0-0 5, Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Staff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-66 13-25 83.
HAWAII (2-3)
Balocka 2-5 1-4 5, Thompson 5-13 2-3 15, Campbell 2-3 0-0 4, Flemings 2-6 0-4 4, Mayen 3-5 2-2 8, Lay 7-17 8-11 26, Lutu 2-2 0-0 4, Xiang 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 25-55 14-26 71.
Halftime—Hawaii 36-35. 3-Point Goals—New Mexico 8-23 (Martinez 4-11, McDonald 2-5, Fenton 1-1, Garth 1-2, Hobson 0-2, Dennis 0-2), Hawaii 7-18 (Lay 4-8, Thompson 3-7, Mayen 0-1, Flemings 0-1, Balocka 0-1). Fouled Out—Mayen. Rebounds—New Mexico 43 (Hardeman, Hobson 10), Hawaii 35 (Balocka 16). Assists—New Mexico 17 (Hobson 5), Hawaii 14 (Balocka, Flemings, Thompson 3). Total Fouls—New Mexico 21, Hawaii 22. A—5,256.