ALBUQUERQUE — A half-hour after his team successfully waded through a torrent of presses at a mile-high altitude, their ears ringing from fan noise that rivals McKale Center on its very best days, Sean Miller stood against a wall a postgame interview.
His Arizona Wildcats had beaten New Mexico 89-73 at The Pit, so it was time to exhale at a place that tries to remind him he’s not supposed to.
Behind Miller was a sign that read: “You are now 5,326 feet above sea level. 83% available oxygen molecules.”
Next to it was a green tank labeled “Emergency Oxygen.”
Miller didn’t appear to notice the psychological trick and his players didn’t, either. They shot a season-best 64 percent against the Lobos and, perhaps more impressively, turned the ball over just 10 times against a team that typically forces double that amount.
They had no worries. Especially with Rawle Alkins.
The sophomore forward, who had a career-high 26 points in his first start of the season following a 10-week layoff for a broken foot, even looked puzzled at a question of if he felt a little tired.
“I didn’t feel anything,” Alkins said.
Instead, Alkins raced downcourt for layups when the Wildcats broke a press, or he made all three of his 3-point attempts, or he picked up fouls that gave him five chances to hit five free throws.
If Alkins had any rust in his first game a week earlier, with seven points on 2-for-6 shooting against Alabama, it was all gone, now.
“My first game back was all about the win for me,” Alkins said. “The second game, I’ve been working hard on practicing and rehabbing and it’s starting to pay off.
Alkins said starting the game helped him play faster and stay warm, and he clearly appeared to be in a rhythm.
Naturally, Miller was glad to see it.
“Simply put, we’re a much better team with him because he’s one of our best players,” Miller said. “If he didn’t play tonight, it would have been a much different game.”
Not only did Alkins give the Wildcats his usual boost of confidence, athleticism and strength, but he also gave them a much-needed third option.
While Allonzo Trier and Deandre Ayton became one of the country’s top 1-2 punches in his absence, averaging 42.8 points combined through the UA’s first 10 games, Saturday’s game threw a different dynamic at the Lobos.
While they tried to tangle Ayton up inside — the freshman big man was “limited” to 14 points and 13 rebounds — and while they tried to keep Trier out of the lane, that helped Alkins get freer.
“They really sold out to not let us get stuff inside and try to take me away,” Trier said. “They had their best perimeter player guarding me and they were doing all they could on Deandre, you got a guy like Rawle Alkins being guarded by their third best player on the floor. He should be able to do some damage. Really good job by him of taking advantage and being really aggressive.”
Alkins wound up making 9 for 11 shots, while Trier responded by going 6 of 9 from the field and working his way through the defense to pick up enough fouls to go 8 of 9 from the line.
In fact, it almost looked too easy for a while. The Wildcats took a 49-33 lead at halftime, after Alkins had 13 points in the first half.
But New Mexico cut the UA’s lead all the way to seven points twice in the final 5:05, bringing Lobo fans to their feet and their vocal chords back to the sort of ear-splitting levels The Pit has long been known for.
Part of the problem for the Wildcats was that Dane Kuiper scored 13 of his team-high 24 points in the second half, finishing with 6 of 8 3-point shooting.
In a game when UA held New Mexico to just 38.7 percent shooting and only 12 of 34 from 3-point range, it was a problem that stood out.
“We just broke down on assignments and let a guy get 6 3s,” Trier said.
Over the first 16 minutes of the second half, the Lobos also forced six UA turnovers through the first 16 minutes and had seven offensive rebounds for 13 second-chance points.
As a result, New Mexico cut UA’s lead to 74-66 with 5:33 left on a pair of free throws by Sam Logwood, and later crept within 78-71 on two free throws from Kuiper.
But Trier sliced through the Lobo defense for a layup and after Parker Jackson-Cartwright stole the ball from New Mexico’s Antino Jackson, Ayton raced downcourt for a dunk that gave the Wildcats an 82-71 lead with 2:53 left.
New Mexico coach Paul Weir may have had a feeling there was a limit on the Lobos’ comeback.
“I told them at halftime, you can’t spot potentially the No. 1 team a 16-point lead at halftime, and expect to come back,” he said.
In this case, Weir was right. The Lobos didn’t see single digits again in the final minutes and, gradually, the Lobo fans took their seats.
Then they left the building.
“It was a tough place to play and they hit a lot of 3s, so it got pretty crazy,” Trier said, his back also against those “warning” signs about the altitude. “But we held our composure and stayed calm.”
It’s a skill the Wildcats will need ahead. After two more nonconference home games, and a potentially wild Pac-12 opener against ASU at McKale on Dec. 30, the Wildcats will head to Utah and Colorado.
There, the Wildcats will find two of the Pac-12’s tougher road environments — and two places that also are at high altitude.
But now, all that won’t be anything they haven’t seen.
“The one thing that’s different maybe about college basketball than a lot of other sports is how different it is home versus away,” Miller said. “Until you go through a couple of these experiences, you’re not comfortable. Hopefully our guys are more comfortable now than they were before tonight’s game.”
