Lobos Outlast UNLV 91-90 in Sunday Thriller

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team topped UNLV 91-90 at home on Sunday afternoon in thrilling fashion as freshman Makuach Maluach nailed the go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds left for the win. The Lobos were led by five players scoring in double figures including senior Sam Logwood who notched his first double-double of the season.

With the victory, the Lobos (15-14,10-6 MW) move into a tie for third place in the Mountain West with two games remaining in the regular season. UNLV slips to 19-10, 8-8 in conference play to remain seventh in the league.

“UNLV played a very good basketball game,” head coach Paul Weir said. “We missed a lot of layups and a lot of loose balls ended up their hands. It seemed like we couldn’t catch a break in the second half, but thankfully we were able to close the game.”

Junior Anthony Mathis paced the Lobo scoring effort, going 4-for-6 from the floor, 3-for-5 from 3-point range and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line for 18 points. Logwood followed with 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds while Maluach and senior Joe Furstinger collected 13 points apiece. Junior Dane Kuiper rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points. 

Furstinger also registered a pair of blocks on the day, including his 100th career block. He now ranks eighth all time in Lobo history with 101.
 

WHAT A FINISH! @UNMLoboMBB defeats UNLV 91-90 in a thriller @DreamstyleArena ! Here are the highlights! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/ImXm9pxq33

— New Mexico Lobos (@UNMLOBOS) February 25, 2018

UNM led for 30:37 of the game and held a nine-point lead with 7:56 left in the contest before UNLV pulled within two, 78-76, after a 10-3 run with 5:19 to go. Mathis hit a three with 4:54 remaining to extend the Lobo lead back to five, 81-76, but UNLV’s Jovan Mooring answered with one of his own to reduce the margin back to two, 81-79 with 4:35 left. 

The Runnin’ Rebels took the lead when freshman standout Brandon McCoy completed a three-point play to put UNLV ahead 82-81 with 3:48 left, marking their first lead since the 2:33 mark of the first half. Over the next three minutes, the lead changed four times and a layup from Maluach tied it 88-88 with 44 seconds left.

UNLV took another two-point lead after Mooring knocked down two of three free throws to make it 90-88 with 30 seconds on the clock before the Lobos got the ball back.
 
With the clock winding down, senior Antino Jackson found Maluach on the perimeter. The freshman drilled the go-ahead three from the right side with 16 seconds left to put the Lobos back on top, 91-90.

UNLV had the final possession, hoping for the last-second shot for the win. With 10.5 seconds left, the Runnin’ Rebels called their final timeout to draft a play. UNLV moved the ball into the lane to leading scorer Johnson who kicked it out to Kris Clyburn on the perimeter, but Clyburn missed and the putback attempt failed as time expired. 

The Lobos had entered the second half down by one, 42-41 after jumping out to a strong start. UNM took an eight-point lead, 11-3, in the first three minutes of the game on an 11-1 run capped by three from junior Dane Kuiper. UNLV responded with a 9-0 run to take a one-point lead, 12-11 at the 13:25 mark in the first half. The Lobos got back ahead by as much as seven points before UNLV took a five-point lead with 4:24 left.

UNM whittled it down and jumped ahead by three on a pair of Furstinger free throws with 1:43 left and again on a pair of McNeal free throws with three seconds left.

UNLV scored a buzzer-beating layup to cut UNM’s lead to one at the half, 42-41. 
 
Both teams scored 49 points in the second half for the 91-90 final. The Lobos outshot the Runnin’ Rebels 50 percent to 48.3 percent on the night and went 24-for-29 from the free throw line for 82.8 percent, compared to 28-of-40 (70%) for UNLV. UNM also led in points off the bench, 29-15.

UNLV dominated in the paint (46-30), in rebounds (39-28), in second-chance points (16-4) and in fast-break points (18-3).

The Lobos will travel to face Colorado State on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo.