ESPN Men's Basketball

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Mark Walters is back and he's confident that pretty soon so will the Lobo fans.

Walters, a guard playing with the confidence and quickness that marked his freshman season two years ago, is a huge reason the Lobos are off to their best start in six years after Sunday's 82-74 win over Duquesne on the final day of the NABC Classic.

The Lobos (3-0) have their best start since the 1998-99 season, which coincidentally also is the last time New Mexico made the NCAA tournament field. Trouble is they're playing before a half empty Pit. The house where sellouts of 18,000 were common in the '90s when the Lobos were a fixture in the NCAA tournament, has become a haven for empty seats.

The announced attendance Sunday was 11,317, but the actual number of people in the stands was probably closer to 7,000. It was the same kind of inflated numbers on Friday and Saturday, when the announced attendance was 12,436 and 12,608.

The fans, says Walters, a junior guard and graduate of Albuquerque's Highland High School, will come back if the Lobos' winning streak keeps growing.

"We're 3-0 right now and as we continue winning, the fans are going to see what's going on and they'll start to show up," he said.

Walters was one of the top freshmen in the Mountain West Conference in 2002-03, averaging 9.5 points and 5.6 rebounds a game. He tore a ligament in a pickup game after that season and underwent surgery. He was slow to recover and slumped last season, his average dipping to 5 points a game.

Through the first three games, Walters is averaging 14 points, shooting better than 69 percent from the field and has hit 7 of 13 3-pointers. He hit his first six shots Sunday and finished 7-for-10.

He also had 19 points in the Lobos' 93-59 win over Santa Clara on Saturday, giving him his first back-to-back double figure scoring games since the last three games of his freshman year.

"He's a different player because of his maturity," said New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay. "You should hear his voice in the locker room."

Point guard Kris Collins also scored 19 points -- 15 of them in the second half.

Duquesne (1-2) had a pair of early leads and hung close the rest of the way. A 15-foot jumper by Keith Gayden got the Dukes within 35-33 with 19:05 left in the game, but that's as close as Duquesne would come to a lead in the final 20 minutes.

Martin Osimani led Duquesne with 16 points. Bryant McAllister scored 15, Jack Higgins 12 and Kieron Achara 10.

Collins had a steal and scored on a layup after Gayden's basket and Walters, who sat out the final nine minutes of the first half with two fouls, hit his third 3-pointer of the game. A steal by Walters set up a free throw by Collins that upped the Lobos' lead to 41-33 with 17:14 left.

Walters, Collins and Alfred Neale carried New Mexico's offense on a night when Danny Granger, the team's leading scorer and rebounder a year ago, wasn't much of a factor.

Collins got 15 of his points in the second half and Neale scored 17 points and went 4-for-4 on 3-pointers. Neale also went 4-for-4 from behind the arc on Saturday night when New Mexico set a school record with 20 3-pointers in a 93-59 win over Santa Clara.

Granger, held to four free throws in the first half, finished with 14 points. He hit just 3 of 8 shots and also struggled at the free throw line, going 7-for-13.

Duquesne coach Danny Nee said while Granger didn't have a typical game, he commands so much attention defensively that it opens up opportunities for his teammates.

"Danny Granger is a great player," Nee said. "They shot the ball well, but Danny just causes everything to shift. We had to guard him with a man and a half all the time."

Duquesne had five more field goals than New Mexico and matched the Lobos' eight 3-pointers, but New Mexico shot 41 free throws -- making 26 -- to just 12 by Duquesne.

Nee also said the Dukes could not maintain runs.

"Turnovers and good defense by New Mexico, we couldn't execute the plays we need to make going down the stretch," Nee said.