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GAME NOTES: The two teams at opposite ends of the Mountain West Conference standings hit the floor in The Pit this afternoon, as the 12th-ranked New Mexico Lobos entertain the Air Force Falcons.

The Lobos, who have won all but one of their 16 home games to date, continued their league domination on Wednesday night with an 83-61 rout of Wyoming. The victory was the 10th in a row for a squad that actually began conference play with back-to-back losses against San Diego State and UNLV in early January.

As for the Falcons, last in the MWC with a record of 1-10, they have lost four in a row and 10 of their last 11 outings overall. Last weekend, the team was pitted against the other nationally-ranked program in the conference in BYU and was completely dominated at the Marriott Center in Provo, 91-48. It marked the third game in the last four that the Falcons failed to reach 50 points.

Dating back to 1957, this series is under the control of the Lobos who hold a commanding 46-18 advantage. With UNM's 73-50 win in Colorado last month, it has now won five in a row against the Falcons.

The Falcons were completely blown away by BYU last weekend, suffering a 53-20 deficit at the break before going on for the lopsided 43-point loss. Mike Fitzgerald played just 19 minutes but still managed to convert 4-of-7 shots behind the three-point line to arrive at a team-best 13 points, while Michael Lyons tacked on 10 points for a squad that shot a mere 37.8 percent from the field and end up with more turnovers (22) than field goals (17). Grant Parker and Evan Washington, the two players who are scoring in double figures at the moment for the academy with 13.6 and 11.3 ppg, respectively, combined for just seven points in the meeting with the Cougars. Washington, who is playing more than 34 minutes per game, paces the Falcons with 75 assists and has more rebounds (118) than anyone else on the roster, but still Air Force is being beaten on the glass by 3.2 rpg and is coming away with a mere 58.7 ppg these days.

Leading three Lobos in double figures earlier this week against the Wyoming Cowboys was Darington Hobson with his 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor, adding 10 rebounds and six assists in the triumph as well. Phillip McDonald and Roman Martinez contributed 14 and 13 points, respectively, but they were pulled from the game to give the reserves some action. The team finished the night shooting a solid 50 percent from the field, but just 11- of-31 behind the three-point line. Sticking with the same starting five through 27 games, the Lobos have been able to establish the sort of continuity that most teams can only dream about as four of those players average double- digit scoring to help provide UNM with a scoring advantage of almost 11 ppg. Hobson leads the way with 15.5 ppg and is also first on the glass (8.8 rpg) and passing (124 assists) which makes him a rarity in this day and age.

Unless the Lobos completely dismiss Air Force before the teams even hit the floor, there is little chance that this meeting will not keep the Falcons in the basement of the MWC standings and New Mexico surging towards the eventual regular-season title.