After committing the college hoops equivalent of mortal sin by losing a conference game at home, The University of New Mexico men's basketball team will be looking for a shot at redemption in, of all places, Sin City.

The Lobos, fresh off a loss in The Pit to nationally ranked San Diego State, will face another ranked opponent when they visit No. 14 UNLV in the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night.

Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

UNM finds itself in desperate need of a win after its 75-70 setback to the Aztecs on Wednesday.

The Lobos (15-3 overall, 1-1 Mountain West Conference) can ill afford to fall too far back this early in the conference race.

"Any time in the league race you lose games at home it makes it difficult, and losing [to SDSU] puts our back against the wall in the conference," said Steve Alford, UNM head coach. "Now we've gotta go out and make up for it on the road."

In truth, the Lobos have enjoyed their time away from The Pit this season. They are 6-1 in games outside of Albuquerque and 3-0 in true road environments with wins at New Mexico State, Arizona State and Wyoming.

The trip to Las Vegas, Nev., is an entirely different story, however.

The Rebels (17-3, 1-1) are considered by Alford to be the best team in the MWC, having already posted wins over Illinois, California and then-No. 1 North Carolina.

And like San Diego State, they have a starting lineup that features four guards and a power forward.

"And we're big, so you gotta win that deal or you pick your poison," Alford said, adding the Thomas & Mack is the toughest environment his club will have faced all season. "They're a really good, deep basketball team and we've got our hands full."

The onus, he said, falls to his seniors, forwards Drew Gordon and A.J. Hardeman, and shooting guard Phillip McDonald.

The fact that the Lobos got "out-toughed" by San Diego State is one thing, the coach said. Finding the leadership in his upperclassmen is another.

"It's going to be a big test to our seniors," Alford said. "One, that they're ready to go, and that the young guys are ready with them."

Specifically Alford was referring to junior Demetrius Walker. He got into early foul trouble in Wednesday's loss and was ineffective in what amounted to his first high-pressure college game.

He also pointed to the continued struggles of guard Tony Snell and the Lobos' abandonment of the dribble-drive offense.

Snell has been in a recent funk, having scored 10 points on 2 of 9 shooting with 11 rebounds in the two conference games.

He had been the team's leading scorer in the nonconference with better than 15 points per game.

Also problematic were the 14 shots taken against SDSU by point guard Jamal Fenton.

That, Alford said, was a direct symptom of UNM's inability to run the offense as directed as it adjusted to another game without the full services of freshman point guard Hugh Greenwood.

The Australian is expected to get increased playing time Saturday in place of Fenton.

Greenwood missed two recent games with an ankle sprain and played just 10 minutes (with no points) against SDSU.

Namely, the Lobos are a team that's built around guards who can find the big men in the paint or drive to the basket and draw a foul.

"We've had about a two-month span here where even when we haven't been on offensively we've done a really good job defensively," Alford said. "We need to get back to driving and kicking."