UNM demolishes Air Force behind hot shooting and stifling defense

Head coach Eric Olen said Tuesday night would be a game UNM would have to focus on themselves. 

At times, it looked like the Lobos were the only ones on the Pit court en route to a 98-61 blowout win over the vastly overmatched Air Force Falcons.

"I thought we did a nice job of competing throughout, not allowing the external factors of who they had available, or the scoreboard to dictate too much of our performance," Olen said after the game. "I think that's important in situations like this. We want to play good basketball all the time. I thought we did that tonight for the most part."

It was UNM's fifth-largest victory in a Mountain West game and came in front of a generously announced home crowd of 12,291. Last month at the U.S. Air Force Academy, the Lobos beat the Falcons by 42, the program's second largest win in a Mountain West game.

The Lobos (20-6, 11-4 Mountain West) hold on to sole possession of third place in the Mountain West standings with five league games remaining before the Mountain West Tournament.

Air Force falls to 3-23 overall and 0-15 in the league and played Tuesday's game without two of their best rebounders (Caleb Walker and Eli Robinson, each injured). It was their ninth game played since head coach Joe Scott was suspended indefinitely while being investigated for the treatment of cadet athletes.

And while all that factors into the struggles that program is having, the Lobos are trying to get into the NCAA Tournament and made it a point to make Tuesday night about trying to perform at a high level regardless of opponent.

"I felt like the game was very important, because this stretch coming up is very important," said senior point guard Deyton Albury as the Lobos now play two road gams before returning to the Pit on Feb. 28 for a game against San Diego State. "This is the fourth quarter of the season, and you can't take no game for granted. And that was a big emphasis coming into this game. Coach knew how important it was, and we just had to come out there and focus on ourselves."

Antonio Chol scored a game-high 20 points and was 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Three other Lobos scored in double figures, including Jake Hall with 16.

Chol, who had been struggling to score just a couple of weeks ago, recorded a second consecutive big game in the scoring column. He notched 12 points in a 70-64 road win over Grand Canyon University on Wednesday night.

"I really congratulate the staff, especially on Coach Olen and Tank (assistant coach Tom Tankelewicz)," Chol said of his recent big games. "They really kept my confidence high, even when I wasn't making shots. ... I just congratulate them so much because I don't think I could have had this breakthrough without them."

UNM held Air Force to 37.5% shooting, including 28.6% in the second half. At one point late in the second half, the Falcons went 10 minutes without a field goal. 

The Lobos were 15-of-31 from 3-point range and shot 54.8% overall while outrebounding the visitors 48-23.

At the Air Force Academy in January, the Lobos beat the Falcons 91-49, the largest Mountain West road win in Lobos history and second largest Mountain West win for the program overall.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.