ALBUQUERQUE — Darington Hobson calls Creighton junior shooting guard and childhood best friend, P'Allen Stinnett, his "cousin."

In the second half of No. 19 New Mexico's 66-61 come-from-behind victory in The Pit on Saturday, Hobson gave his "cousin" and the rest of the Bluejays' roster more of the red-headed stepchild treatment.

Hobson scored 19 of his game-high 22 points and grabbed 11 of his career-high 16 rebounds in the second half, including a particularly damaging 5-minute stretch in which he scored 10 straight Lobos points.

"He told me I couldn't hit a free throw, which I couldn't," said Hobson, a junior who, like Stinnett, is from Las Vegas, Nev. "But it was just friendly stuff. That's my boy, my best friend. That's how it's going to be forever."

The friendly rivalry brought the best out of the emotional Hobson, which helped UNM erase a 16-point deficit and improve to 12-0 for the first time since the 1973-74 season, tied for the second-best start in school history (17-0 in the 1967-68 season).

While still playing at the College of Eastern Utah, Hobson received a call from Stinnett after Creighton's 82-75 win in 2008, bragging about the career-high 30 points the then-sophomore dropped on the Lobos in Omaha, Neb.

As Creighton walked up the ramp at halftime with a comfortable 40-28 lead, it appeared Stinnett, who finished with a team-high 14 points, would again have bragging rights over Hobson.

The Bluejays (4-6) shot a net-scorching 75 percent from the field in an otherwise sloppy first half that featured 19 players being called for 27 fouls. UNM shot just 21 percent in the first half, including just 3 of 15 from 3-point range.

Alford said Creighton ran as well as any team the Lobos have played this year and decided in the second half to start pressing the Bluejays.

"I thought it did slow them a little bit and they started missing some shots," Alford said. "We were hoping they weren't going to shoot 75 percent for the night."

Creighton's first field goal of the second half came at the 10:45 mark, having gone 0 for 9 from the field in that span. The Bluejays shot 20.8 percent (5 of 24) in the second half.

"Our guys got real tentative. We stopped pushing it," said Creighton coach Dana Altman, a 1980 graduate of Eastern New Mexico University.

UNM scored the first five points of the second half and used a 17-4 run to take its first lead of the game at 45-44 when Hobson grabbed an offensive rebound and hit an easy layup in the paint.

UNM had 22 offensive rebounds to just seven for Creighton.

"I thought we had them kind of off all night, but the offensive rebounds that they got kept us on defense and then some poor turnovers," Altman said.

UNM senior Roman Martinez, who played just 10 minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls, had another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, including one that set up the play of the game.

After Hobson missed a pair of free throws with 1 minute left in the game, Martinez fought his way inside for his fifth offensive rebound, dished the ball back to Hobson, who dunked the ball for the 61-57 lead.

"That's Ro," Hobson said. "Without Ro and (junior guard Dairese Gary), we aren't 12-0 right now."

Alford was equally complimentary in his praise for Martinez.

"We have a senior that just won't let this team lose," Alford said. "He's a remarkable senior leader and he's done a remarkable job."

But neither Hobson, Martinez nor Alford were willing to give the game ball to anyone wearing a Lobos jersey.

"This one, The Pit Crowd was worth 15 (points) at least tonight," Alford said of the 14,333 announced fans in The Pit.

As Alford closed out his post-game session with reporters, he sarcastically revisited a mini-feud brewing this past week with Texas A&M head coach Mark Turgeon.

After UNM beat the Aggies last week in Houston, Turgeon complained about having agreed to play the Lobos, adding he doesn't plan to play neutral site games against any non-BCS conference schools in the future as it puts his team in a no-win situation.

"This was a good win, right?" Alford sarcastically asked reporters. "I'm assuming I could say this was a good RPI game for Texas A&M. Does this help their RPI?"

The RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is a formula that ranks college basketball teams based on results and strength of schedule. A team's RPI improves not only when they win, but also when their opponents record improves.

When a reporter joked back with Alford that Turgeon had sent a text message thanking the Lobos for the win, Alford shot back.

"Tell him I said hi."

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3060 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at grammserschoolblog.com.