ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball fell to Illinois State Saturday night in Normal, Ill., falling 79-74 in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge. The Lobos are now 5-3 on the season.
The Lobos were led by junior Elijah Brown. He finished with a game-high 21 points, shooting 6-for-17 from the field. He was 3-for-11 from the three and perfect, 6-for-6, from the foul line. He had 15 points in the first half. Freshman Damien Jefferson came off the bench to score 12 points. He finished 4-fo-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from the foul line.
In his first career start, Furstinger finished with a career-high in points and rebounds. He finished with nine points and a game-high of 11 rebounds. He was 3-for-4 from the field and 3-for-5 from the foul line.
New Mexico started off the game shooting 80 percent from the field into the first media timeout, giving the Lobos a 9-5 lead over the Redbirds. The Redbirds used their three-point shooting to get back in the game as they made six straight from the 13:40 mark to the 7:00 mark, giving them a 31-27 lead over the Lobos. The Redbirds ended up with 10 threes in the half.
In the final five minutes of the half, the Lobos worked their way back. They went on a 12-8 run, including back-to-back threes from Brown, to retake the lead into the locker room, 45-42. The Lobos ended the half shooting 57.1 percent from the field.
The second half wasn’t quite the first for the Lobos as they shot 32 percent from the field. Dane Kuiper and Obij Aget combined for 10 points, bringing the score to 55-55.
Illinois State went up by as much as 10 with 2:30 left to play. The Lobos brought it back within one after Brown’s third three on the game with 56 seconds left.
The Lobos needed a stop by Illinois State hit a two with 31 seconds left to go back up three. The Lobos couldn’t get a three off in their possession which results into them fouling the Redbirds with 24 seconds remaining. Two made free throws put the Redbirds up 79-74 with seconds left. Another attempt to get a three off didn’t go the Lobos way in the final seconds.
In the paint, the Lobos out-scored the Redbirds 28-14 and also off the bench 27-25. The Lobos out-rebounded by a margin of seven, 39-32.
The Lobos return home on Wednesday as they match up against UTEP at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be available on ROOT Sports and on 770 KKOB.