Title locked up, Lobos don’t let up in win over UNR

RENO — New Mexico coach Steve Alford didn’t know what to expect from his 12th-ranked Lobos against UNR, given that they had already clinched their fourth Mountain West Conference regular-season title in five years and were playing the league’s last-place team.

Tony Snell scored 25 points with a hot hand from the outside and the Lobos shut down UNR during a 17-0 run late in the game Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory, 75-62 over the Wolf Pack.

“I was concerned just on what our effort, what our demeanor, what our concentration and focus would be,” Alford said of the Lobos (26-4, 13-2 MW).

“And that’s what I told them in the locker room, how pleased and how proud of them I was. They came out focused. They concentrated all night. We gave great effort all night. We did what we’ve done all year; we just eventually wore a team down in the last eight minutes. You could tell we were a lot stronger in the last eight minutes,” he said.

Snell was 8 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, and Cameron Bairstow and Alex Kirk added double-doubles for the Lobos, who trailed 55-53 before outscoring UNR 19-1 during a seven-minute stretch late.

Bairstow had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Kirk added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Malik Story scored 25 points for the Wolf Pack (12-17, 3-12), which has lost six straight.

■ Colorado State 78, Wyoming 56 — At Laramie, Wyo., Colton Iverson scored 20 of his career-high 29 points in the first half to lead the Rams past the Cowboys.

Dorian Green added 18 and Greg Smith had 12 for Colorado State (23-7, 10-5 MW). Larry Nance Jr. had 16 and Derrious Gilmore chipped in 12 for Wyoming (18-12, 4-12), which has lost five straight.

Colorado State, the top rebounding team in the nation, outrebounded Wyoming 35-11.

■ San Diego State 58, Air Force 51 — At San Diego, Jamaal Franklin had 12 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Aztecs past the Falcons.

JJ O’Brien also had 12 points for the Aztecs (21-8, 9-6 MW), who are trying to hold onto the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament next week at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Michael Lyons scored 10 points for Air Force (16-12, 7-8).