Lobos Come Back for Road Win, Down UNLV 85-81
LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Six Lobos scored in double digits on Wednesday night, leading The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team to an 85-81 comeback victory over UNLV on the road. The win marks UNM’s first on the road this season.
“To get a road win, for us is enormous and against a team of this caliber, a top-100 team, it’s growth for us,” head coach Paul Weir said. “There’s a lot of reasons why these things shouldn’t be happening, but we’re not asking that in that locker room. We’re just doing everything we can to make this team the best it can be.”
The Lobos improve to 9-11, 4-3 MW with the victory while UNLV falls to 13-5, 2-3 in league play. UNM also claims
After falling behind by as many as 11 points with just 6:48 remaining in the second half, the Lobos executed a 13-3 run over two minutes to reduce the UNLV lead to just one, 70-69, with 4:22 left.
The Runnin’ Rebels extended their lead back to five with 3:26 left, again with 2:14 left and yet again with 1:15 remaining on the clock on a three-pointer from UNLV’s Jovan Mooring.
Sharp-shooting Lobo junior Anthony Mathis, who is firing at an outstanding clip of 45.2 percent from behind the arc on the season, responded with a clutch 4-point play, sinking a 3-pointer and a free throw to make it 81-80 with 1:07 left.
With 40 seconds left, Mooring attempted a three that would have put UNLV up four, but missed and Coach Weir followed with a timeout after the clock had reduced to just 27 seconds.
The Lobos needed just two points to claim the lead out of the timeout, burning 16 seconds looking for the right shot. With 11 seconds left, Mathis boldly drilled another three to give the Lobos a two-point advantage, 83-81.
UNLV stopped the clock with a foul and senior Joe Furstinger knocked in his seventh and eighth consecutive three throws with three seconds left on the clock for the 85-81 victory.
UNM was led once again by freshman Makuach Maluach who netted 19 points followed by senior Antino Jackson who tallied 17 and added five assists and four rebounds. Jackson finished 3-for-7 from 3-point land and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Furstinger collected 14 points and nine rebounds – just missing his sixth double-double of the season. Mathis also added 14 points for UNM, going 3-for-9 from three and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
Junior Dane Kuiper racked up 10 points for his sixth time finishing in double figures this season, he also finished second on the team with five rebounds. Freshman Vladimir Pinchuck also tallied 10 points for just his second career game in double digits.
For the fourth straight game, just nine Lobos suited up for the contest, including walkon Mike Mondragon. Mondragon played a career-high four minutes.
“These guys are locked in,” Weir said. “They’re giving it everything they’ve got and I’m just really happy for them that they get to feel the feeling of a good road win together.”
As a team, the Lobos shot 43.8 percent from the field compared to 48.4 percent for UNLV. The Lobos were also outrebounded 40-34, but UNLV went just 15.4 percent from behind the arc compared to UNM’s 38.5 percent.
Despite the late UNLV 11-point advantage, the score was tied 10 times during the contest including five lead changes. UNLV outscored UNM 54-34 in the paint and 18-2 on the fast break. The Lobos outscored the Runnin’ Rebels 13-12 off of turnovers and 25-18 in bench points.
The Lobos return home on Saturday, Jan. 20 as they take on San Diego State on CBS SportsNet at 5 p.m. MT. Saturday’s game will also mark UNM’s Domestic Violence Awareness Game during which fans can get $10 tickets (bench rows 1-10) for arriving in purple (the designated color for domestic violence awareness).