OK, enough with scheduling the former Western Athletic Conference teams.

For the second consecutive game, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team lost to a former WAC rival at home.

New Mexico used a second-half surge to defeat the Rainbow Warriors, 83-71, last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Last week, the 'Bows lost to Brigham Young.

A crowd of 4,015 watched the 'Bows fall to 2-3 with their third consecutive loss. New Mexico is 6-0.

"We didn't have a good defensive game — 71 points is enough to win, in my opinion," Hawai'i junior guard Jeremy Lay said. "But giving up 83, that's just not going to get it done."

In the absence of suspended starting guard Dwain Williams, Lay scored a career-high 26 points to lead Hawai'i.

"I don't care about the statistics," Lay said. "Losing is losing."

Williams missed the entire week of practice leading to last night's game, and Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash announced after the game that Williams is serving a two-game suspension for violating team rules. Williams, who is averaging 13.3 points per game, will also sit out Hawai'i's next game.

Senior Adhar Mayen took Williams' starting spot, and the 'Bows stayed with the Lobos for the entire first half.

The first half featured seven lead changes, and the largest lead for either team was six. The 'Bows took a 36-35 lead at intermission, with Lay scoring 11 off the bench.

New Mexico opened the second half with a 14-0 run, and later went on an 11-4 surge that increased its lead to 60-40 with 13:37 remaining.

Lay tried to lead a Hawai'i rally, but the 'Bows never got closer than nine points in the final 13 minutes.

"They separated from us and we just didn't have enough in the tank to get back in it," Nash said.

Without Williams, the 'Bows used a rotation of just seven players for most of the game.

"We can't keep playing from behind," Lay said. "That's not something we want to do."

Hiram Thompson contributed 15 points and three assists for Hawai'i. Petras Balocka added five points, and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds.

However, the Lobos out-rebounded Hawai'i, 43-35. It was the first time this season that the 'Bows got out-rebounded. Most telling, New Mexico scored 27 "second chance" points off its 22 offensive rebounds.

New Mexico head coach Steve Alford said the Lobos' second-half surge had more to do with "demeanor" than strategy.

"We have a young team, so when you get off to a 5-0 start, they think everything is going to be great and it doesn't always work that way," Alford said. "So the (halftime) adjustment was more than X and O's, it was more the demeanor of how we approach things."

The Lobos shot 39.5 percent from the field in the first half, but then went 57.1 percent in the second half, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

New Mexico finished with 47 percent field-goal shooting to Hawai'i's 45.5 percent.

The 'Bows got just four points and three rebounds from star player Roderick Flemings. He entered the game averaging 15.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.

He shot 2 of 6 from the field, and 0 for 4 on free throws.

"We got Rod the ball in the post, but Rod is not one of those kind of guys who is selfish and is going to force the offense," Nash said. "As a result, he didn't take enough shots. I want him shooting the ball anywhere from 12 to 18 times a game, but he's not a selfish player."

Darrington Hobson led New Mexico with 21 points and 10 rebounds. A.J. Hardeman added 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Roman Martinez scored 19.

Hawai'i's next game will be its first road trip of the season. The 'Bows will play at UC Irvine on Wednesday.