Football
Associated Press 16y

Giddens leads New Mexico over UNLV, 59-45

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- J.R. Giddens will be leaving New
Mexico. Steve Alford told a soldout arena he's staying.

Giddens, a senior who transferred from Kansas, had 17 points and
15 rebounds in what was likely his final homecourt appearance,
lifting New Mexico to a 59-45 win over UNLV on Tuesday night.

The Lobos (23-7, 10-5 Mountain West) snapped a four-game losing
streak to UNLV (22-7, 11-4) and logged a key victory as they seek
to improve their resume for receiving an at-large berth to the NCAA
tournament.

The night was capped by an emotional postgame sendoff ceremony,
highlighted by remarks from Giddens and fellow seniors Jamaal Smith
and Darren Prentice.

"Thank you for these wonderful three years," Giddens told
cheering New Mexico fans.

Alford kept the excitement going moments later, ending
speculation in Albuquerque news reports about his future. The
former Indiana star has been mentioned as a possible successor to
Kelvin Sampson.

"Let's keep the focus on the seniors," Alford told a capacity
crowd at The Pit after the win. "This coaching staff isn't going
anywhere."

Giddens was a force, collecting eight rebounds by halftime in
his final homecourt appearance -- barring a trip to the National
Invitation Tournament. He also had five assists and a steal in 40
minutes.

"You have to slow J.R. Giddens, and he's got 17 points and 15
rebounds when everybody is zeroing in on him," Alford said.
"That's why he's the M.V.P. of our league."

Fans in the student section chanted Giddens' name in the closing
minutes, then "M.V.P" after the final horn, lobbying for Giddens
to be named the Mountain West's player of the year.

"We're happy we could go out together and get a win," Giddens
said in the interview room, placing his arms around Smith and
Prentice. "We're blessed to have the fan support we had. I don't
know if anybody knows how it feels to get a win like that when you
have that crowd supporting you."

UNLV point guard Wink Adams scored 12, four points below his
average, going scoreless in the second half. The Rebels shot 33
percent from the floor, hitting just 18-of-54.

UNLV had won four straight over New Mexico, including a 79-60
decision in Las Vegas on Feb. 2 when UNLV opened with a 21-5 run.
The Lobos refused to let it happen again, forcing a grinding pace
for a 24-22 halftime lead.

From there, New Mexico turned the tables, starting the second
half with an 11-0 burst that stretched the lead to 35-24. After a
timeout, two free throws by Giddens made it a 13-0 run.

"I thought New Mexico played great," UNLV coach Lon Kruger
said. "They took the initiative right from the start. We were
basically on our heels, fought back at halftime, and then they
opened the second half with a big run."

The Rebels missed their first four field goal tries and had
three turnovers after the break, and the capacity crowd of 18,018
fans was at full roar as Chad Toppert hit a 3-pointer to force a
UNLV timeout.

After the Rebels cut the deficit to 43-33 at the 10-minute mark,
Prentice threw a long pass to Giddens for a thunderous slam dunk
that kept the fans standing and the crowd noise at full volume.

"It was a good one to go out with on Senior Night," Giddens
said, smiling.

Roman Martinez collected a miss and banked it in to push New
Mexico's lead to 47-33 with 7:44 remaining, and UNLV trailed 51-37
with 5 minutes to go when Smith drew the fourth and fifth fouls on
Adams.

Kruger was furious with the call, but his team never got the
margin into double digits again.

"We got whipped," he said. "We have been whipped a few times.
We don't have much margin. It's not like we're going to play great
every night if we don't win the battles and do the little things
better."

With the victory, Alford set a school record for most wins by a
first-year coach. Dave Bliss went 22-11 in his first season
coaching the Lobos, back in 1988-89.

"It's really been the same tune all year," Alford said. "This
team has given incredible effort, and we knew we were going to have
to give incredible effort to beat this UNLV team."

The Pit was sold out, just like a week earlier for an overtime
loss to BYU. It marked the first consecutive sellouts since the
Lobos faced Arizona and New Mexico State early in the 1996-97
season.

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