Las Vegas » Darrington Hobson's 28 points helped eighth-ranked New Mexico stave off a scare from the scrappy Air Force Falcons 75-69 Thursday in the Mountain West Conference quarterfinals.

Dairese Gary added 20 points for the Lobos (29-3), who set a school record for wins in a season and extended their winning streak to 15.

It wasn't the runaway that their fans anticipated as they packed the Thomas & Mack Center, celebrating New Mexico's first top seed in a conference tournament since 1994.

The Lobos, who led by just three points with 41/2 minutes left, are playing for a high seed in the NCAA tournament instead of just trying to get into the field of 65 as they have in the past few years.

San Diego State 72, Colorado State 71 » D.J. Gay sank two free throws with 23 seconds left and Travis Busch missed a desperation runner at the buzzer as San Diego State edged Colorado State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.

The fourth-seeded Aztecs (23-8) will face top-seeded and eighth-ranked New Mexico (29-3) in the semifinals tonight. Gay was fouled by Travis Franklin with 23 seconds left and sank both to put San Diego State on top 72-71. The Rams (16-15) called a timeout with 18 seconds remaining to set up their final play. However, Dorian Green threw the ball away under the basket with 6.7 seconds left.