GAME NOTES: The New Mexico Lobos try to shake off a rare home loss as they challenge the UNLV Runnin' Rebels in Mountain West Conference play at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday night.

The Lobos have lost just two of their 10 home dates in 2014-15, the first of those coming against non-conference foe USC at the end of November, the other being a disappointing 69-59 defeat at the hands of Boise State on Sunday afternoon. Now 4-2 in conference play, New Mexico saw its two-game win streak come to an end versus the Broncos, but still the team is one of two programs nationally, the other being Cincinnati, that has yet to allow an opponent 70 points this season.

While New Mexico is within striking distance of first place in the MWC standings, the Runnin' Rebels are third from the bottom with just one win in five league opportunities. The program has dropped two straight and five of the last six contests, the lone win coming against a woeful San Jose State (74-40) 11 days ago.

On Saturday the Rebels put up a good fight against San Diego State on the road but still came up short in a 53-47 final at Viejas Arena.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, UNLV is ahead by a 30-20 margin after the programs split a pair of regular-season dates in 2013-14, each winning on the other's home floor.

This time next month the Lobos will be hosting UNLV at WisePies Arena.

New Mexico led by a point at the break against the Broncos on Sunday, but the host then missed all eight chances behind the 3-point line, was 6-of-11 at the free-throw line and allowed BSU to make good on 52.2 percent from the floor, en route to the double-digit decision. Deshawn Delaney scored a team-best 13 points for the Lobos and Jordan Goodman tacked on 10 points off the bench for a squad that finished just 2-of-14 beyond the arc.

Hugh Greenwood, an enigmatic player who in one breath can be a force on the perimeter and in another be a non-factor, made just three of his 14 field goal tries for six points in the loss to Boise State. Still, he somehow leads UNM in scoring in conference games with 10.7 ppg as he shoots a dismal 30.0 percent from the floor. He does pace the team in those six decisions with 25 assists and 5.5 rpg as well, which is why it is tough to take him off the floor.

The Rebels turned the tables on SDSU in the first half of their meeting over the weekend, limiting the host to only 17 points on 6-of-24 shooting from the floor, but the second half was a completely different story. Over the final 20 minutes of action UNLV held both an 11-point advantage and also fell behind by eight in the final minutes of the six-point loss. Rashad Vaughn came up with a game-high 17 points, followed by Patrick McCaw and Goodluck Okonoboh with 15 and 11 points, respectively, but the key to the loss was the lazy performance by Christian Wood who had just two points, three rebounds and three blocked shots in 32 minutes of action.

Wood, who has 10 double-doubles on the campaign, was held to single-digit scoring just three times in the first 15 outings, but now it has happened twice in the last three decisions. He is still second on the team overall with 14.1 ppg, behind only Vaughn who has delivered 17.5 ppg, but the efforts of Wood in the paint are crucial to the program's success, or lack thereof. Wood continues to lead the group on the glass with 9.6 rpg and 53 blocked shots, while Okonoboh is second in both categories with 5.2 rpg and 50 rejections for a team that has blocked 132 shots in 18 games.

One has to assume that Wood will rebound from his worst game of the season, considering he can't possibly put together a weaker effort. But the key to this meeting for the Lobos will be whether or not Greenwood makes an impact out on the perimeter and UNM can avoid being turned away in the paint.