SALT LAKE CITY — Josh Watkins scored 22 points and J.J. O'Brien added a career-high 18 to help the University of Utah men's basketball team beat visiting New Mexico 82-72 on Wednesday at the Huntsman Center.

Watkins scored on a variety of drives and pushed the ball at every opportunity to spark the Utes (9-10, 2-3 Mountain West Conference) to back-to-back wins after dropping seven straight.

The loss was the second in a row for the struggling Lobos (13-6, 1-3), who have now lost five if their last eight games. They fell into a tie for seventh place in the conference standings, three full games off the pace of co-leaders Brigham Young and San Diego State.

UNM continues its two-game road trip with a stop at UNLV on Saturday.

Lobos head coach Steve Alford continued to tinker with his lineup, removing freshman center Alex Kirk from the starting five for the first time this season.

The Los Alamos High graduate had started all 18 games in his career, but he went 0-for-5 and finished
with zero points and five rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.

Junior forward A.J. Hardeman started in his place and finished with seven points before fouling out.

New Mexico continued to struggle against the 3-point shot in conference play.

The Utes hit 10 of 19 shots from distance, giving Lobo opponents 35 3-pointers in four games.

Remove Colorado State's 5-for-20 effort in the Lobos' only win in Mountain West play and opponents are shooting 51 percent (30 of 59) from the outside.

O'Brien, a Utah freshman who missed nine games with a broken foot and had only scored 32 points all season, made 7 of 13 shots — including his lone 3-point try — and grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Utes stretched the Lobos' zone defense by making seven of their first nine tries from beyond the arc. Then they found room to drive the lane and get open looks closer to the basket.

Freshman forward Kendall Williams led New Mexico with 18 points while point guard Dairese Gary added 15 points and five assists set a conference mark for career assists with 483.

Swingman Phillip McDonald added 11 points for UNM.

It's the first time this season the Lobos have lost when P-Mac went for double figures. They had been 10-0.

Williams was the only Lobo to hit a 3-pointer in the game's first 34 minutes. It came on a half-court heave to beat the halftime buzzer.

New Mexico trailed by as many as 17 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The Utes led by as many as 20 points in the second half, but the Lobos battled back and Gary's free throws cut Utah's lead to 73-65 with 3:15 to play.

Watkins made five throws down the stretch to clinch the game for the Utes.

Gary surpassed San Diego State's Richie Williams, who previously held the league record with 479 assists, as he fed Cameron Bairstow for a layup in the first half.

He also started his 116th straight game, extending the nation's longest active streak.

Shawn Glover hit a career-best four 3-pointers, helping make up for leading scorer Will Clyburn's season-low eight points.