ALBUQUERQUE — The best thing about the past for University of New Mexico head men's basketball coach Steve Alford is that there isn't one.

So while Lobo teams might have lost seven games in a row in Clune Arena, home of the Falcons of Air Force, and 18 in a row to the Utes of Utah in the Huntsman Center, Alford hasn't.

Those are UNM's next two destinations, beginning tonight with Air Force and ending Saturday in Salt Lake City.

"Those are two arenas I've never been in," Alford, in his first year at UNM, said. "This is really new and that's really the way we've played this season. We haven't really looked at what's happened in the past. I really haven't brought much of the past up, because I haven't been a part of that and the staff hasn't been a part of those things.

"Whether it's been good or bad, we've tried to have this team focus on what this team can do and what this team is trying to do on the floor. Thus far, they've done a lot of good things."

The Lobos (20-6 overall, 7-4) have won four straight after losing a pair of road games at BYU and UNLV. If there is a second-toughest road swing next to playing on the floors of the two Mountain West Conference leaders, Air Force and Utah would suffice.

But behind every hot streak is a hot player.

J.R. Giddens fits that bill for the Lobos.

The co-MWC player of the week — for the second straight week — finally is distinguishing himself from the rest of the league, and in all the right ways. Giddens, a 6-5 senior guard, leads the Lobos with an average of 15 points and 8.6 rebounds a game. He's also the only player in the Mountain West that ranks in the Top 10 in scoring, field goal percentage, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.

"I don't think it's a little run, I think it's been a 26-game run," Alford said. "He's learned a lot along the way and he's a very consistent player."

Last week, Giddens led the Lobos to wins over San Diego State and TCU, and averaged 23.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.5 blocks and two steals a game.

That was coming off a week he scored a combined 55 points in wins over Colorado State and Wyoming.

"I'm just enjoying my senior year, having a lot of fun with my teammates going out there and winning ballgames," Giddens said. "Winning does make it a lot better."

Preparing for him, however, isn't much fun.

Air Force gets that duty today.

"I'm not sure there is anything we can do," Air Force head coach Jeff Reynolds said of Giddens, who scored a game-high 15 points against the Falcons in a 59-44 Lobos' win Jan. 19 in The Pit. "We'll try to keep him in front and try to contest shots as best you can. He's playing right now like he's playing for money. I think there's two kinds of seniors: The kind that just want to get the year over with and the kind that has figured it out. 'This is my last go-round and if I'm going to get looked at by the league, and maybe get an invite to some camps, I have to put my best foot forward," and I think that's what you're seeing in J.R. right now."

The Falcons are struggling to put any foot forward. Although Air Force (13-11, 5-6) has gone 33-4 in conference games on its home court since the beginning of the 2003-04 season, they are just 3-2 in league play this year with home losses to BYU and Utah. Overall,

Air Force has lost three of its last four games.

"They don't get real up or get real down," Reynolds said of his team. "I think that's a part of the Academy upbringing. I think our guys feel they can compete in this league and I think they also realize if we don't play very well collectively as a team and be really focused in, then it's a hard process for us."