ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Hugh Greenwood does it all for New Mexico.
Just as he showed — again — on Saturday night, helping the No. 20 Lobos pull away late against Nevada in a 75-62 victory.
"He's special player," New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. "He can beat you a lot of different ways. He can beat you on the backboard. He can beat you defending. He can beat you in handling the ball and getting people involved or, like he's done the last couple of games, he can beat you by scoring."
Greenwood stuffed the stat box, finishing with 15 points, including going 4 of 5 on 3-pointers, snaring seven rebounds and delivering six assists, all of which were team highs.
It led Alford to joke a bit about his Australian sophomore guard.
"He's always had a green light," Alford said. "In Australia, I think he sometimes thinks green light means red light or yellow light. We're still trying to work through that international barrier, but we've always given Hugh the green light. It's about Hugh being aggressive and knowing. He's go confidence right now. He's making shots."
Greenwood had plenty of help from his fellow Lobos (19-3, 6-1 Mountain West), especially off the bench. Demetrius Walker, who didn't even play in the last game, poured in 12 points and had two steals, and Chad Adams added 10 points and four rebounds.
Adams hit two crucial 3-pointers to spur a 10-2 New Mexico run that turned a 51-50 deficit into a 60-53 lead that the Lobos would not relinquish the rest of the game.
"Demetrius came in and I thought did an absolutely super job," Alford said. "Sometimes you get confidence because of made shots, but I was most impressed by what he did defensively. He got on the glass. He blocked out. He really guarded the way he's capable of guarding because he's a big, physical guard. So I thought he was a big key."
Likewise, Adams' contribution was important.
"Chad I thought he was terrific tonight," Alford said.
Malik Story had 20 to lead the Wolf Pack (11-10, 2-5). Nevada's Deonte Burton, who came into the game leading the conference in scoring at 18.5 per game, finished with 13 points, 11 of those in the second half.
Burton brought the Wolf Pack within four points at 60-56 with a 3-pointer at the 5:40 mark, but the Lobos closed the game on a 15-6 run.
"The guys fought hard," Nevada coach David Carter said. "I didn't see the game as New Mexico dominating us. They did play very well and they shot the ball well, but our guys competed and I thought we had a chance. It kind of got away from us."
New Mexico led throughout the first half, but never took a lead greater than six points. Nevada took its first lead early in the second half when Burton scored five straight points to turn a 37-34 into a 39-37 edge.
The teams combined to go 21 for 47 from behind the arc.
New Mexico shot 28 for 50, topping the 50-percent mark for the third time this season, which helped offset a rare subpar game at the line, where the Lobos went 8 of 14.
"It's always good to see when some shots start falling," Alford said. "We've got some guys playing at a high level right now. Offensively, I thought we executed well. We moved the ball from side to side. We got the ball going inside out. Those things are some real positives to what our offensive did."
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