LAS VEGAS — After about the game's first five minutes, it became pretty clear that New Mexico was playing for something bigger than a Mountain West Conference tournament title. On the game's first possession, sophomore sniper Tony Snell curled off of a screen on the right wing and cashed a contested, fading jumper. Then he hit a 3-pointer. Then Drew Gordon completed an old-fashioned 3-point play. The Lobos were up 8-1 early, dominating on the glass and winning just about every hustle point available. They were fresher, deeper and, above all, hungrier. Thus, the 68-59 triumph over San Diego State on Saturday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center. For years, Lobos coach Steve Alford has been one of the league's more vocal coaches when it came to the supposed advantage MWC power UNLV has of holding the conference tournament in its home gym. But Alford left Las Vegas this weekend with a 27-6 record, a share of the MWC regular season title, his first conference tournament title and his second NCAA tournament berth in three years. In other words, he had nothing to be upset about. "To come here and play the way we did for three days is a remarkable feat for our young men," he said afterwards. "I couldn't be prouder of a group of guys. I've said it all year long, I think they've gone under appreciated." There was a reason for that. After being picked as the preseason favorite in a stronger than expected Mountain West, unspectacular early season losses to New Mexico State and Santa Clara, then a 1-2 start in conference play, kept them from getting much love in the national polls. Then, after they won seven straight, capped by back-to-back victories over San Diego State and UNLV in late February, they finally cracked the Top 25 rankings. Then, they lost back-to-back road games at Colorado State and TCU, thus squandering a two-game lead in the conference standings. And now they're officially back on the radar just in time for the big stage. They started their weekend by smashing an overwhelmed Air Force squad, then outlasted UNLV on Friday night in an epic, hard-fought semifinal. To end it, they had enough left in the tank to dominate San Diego State. New Mexico led the Aztecs from start to finish, and everyone contributed, as Alford flexed every piece of his 10-man rotation.
