SAN DIEGO — A week removed from a face-plant that helped knock San Diego State out of The Associated Press top 25, Jamaal Franklin made sure the Aztecs were focused and ready against No. 15 New Mexico.
So much so that they routed the Lobos 55-34 on Saturday, New Mexico’s worst loss in the shot-clock era.
JJ O’Brien had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Franklin scored 10 points while leading San Diego State’s defense.
San Diego State (16-4, 4-2) dealt the Lobos (17-3, 4-1) their first conference loss and snapped New Mexico’s four game winning streak.
New Mexico’s 34 points were its fewest since scoring 32 on Jan. 31, 1976, at Utah. The Lobos shot 25 percent (11 of 44), their lowest mark since at least 1965.
“As good as we were as a team, I have to start with Jamaal,” San Diego State Coach Steve Fisher said. “For those that only look at a stat line, you don’t appreciate what he brings to this team. He’s the soul of our program. He willed everybody to be ready.”
A week earlier, San Diego State scored only nine points in the first half of a 58-45 loss at Wyoming.
“It’s exciting. We needed that one,” Franklin said. “It was a really big win and New Mexico is a really good team. Like Coach Fisher always stresses, you can’t win this league if you don’t win home games. I feel like this was a big home win.”
San Diego State shot only 40.4 percent (23 of 57) but out rebounded the Lobos 41-26.
Kendall Williams had 14 points for the Lobos, whose 34 points tied for the second-fewest in a Mountain West game since the league began play in 1999-2000. Air Force scored 34 against San Diego State on Feb. 7, 2009. The MWC record for fewest points is 33, set by Air Force against Brigham Young on Feb. 3, 2003.
San Diego State’s 21-point margin of victory tied for its highest against a nationally ranked opponent, 62-41 against then-No. 15 Air Force on Feb. 6, 2007.
New Mexico’s previous season lows of 46 points and 31.8 percent shooting came in its last loss, 60-46 at Saint Louis on Dec. 31.
In another Mountain West game, Deonte Burton scored 17 points as host Nevada (11-8, 2-3) defeated Boise State (14-5, 2-3), winning 75-59 Saturday.
PACIFIC-12 Arizona sweeps LA
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State rode the inside play of Jordan Bachynski and Carrick Felix to defeat UCLA 78-60on Saturday and complete a sweep of the Los Angeles schools this week.
Bachynski had 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Felix added 23 points and 11 rebounds as the Sun Devils (16-4, 5-2 Pacific-12) dominated the Bruins inside the lane. Arizona State outscored UCLA 46-26 in the lane and out rebounded the Bruins 52-33.
Jordan Adams scored 19 points and Shabazz Muhammad had 18 for UCLA (16-5, 6-2).
In other Pacific-12 games, Mike Ladd had a career-high 23 points and Washington State (11-9, 2-5) held off host Oregon State (11-9, 1-6) down the stretch for a 71-68 victory. ... E.J. Singler scored 18 points and No. 16 Oregon (18-2, 7-0) stayed undefeated at home with an 81-76 victory against visiting Washington (12-8, 4-3). ... Nick Johnson scored 14 points and No. 6 Arizona (17-2, 5-2) used a stifling defense to bounce back from a home loss and rout visiting Southern California (8-13, 3-5), winning 74-50.
Sports, Pages 27 on 01/27/2013