New Mexico drops to 11-6 overall and 2-2 in the MWC…Wyoming improves to 10-7, 3-1 in the MWC
New Mexico is 0-6 away from The Pit this year and has lost 7 straight including the setback to Villanova in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament
UNM has also lost 9 straight games to Wyoming in Laramie, dating to 1995…overall, the Cowboys have won 10 of the past 13 games in the series
New Mexico used a 7-0 run to take a 56-55 lead on Mark Walters’ basket with 6:59 to go, but the Cowboys answered with a 14-1 burst and a 69-57 lead…UNM did not get another basket until Walters scored with 1:50 left…during that 5:09 FG drought, the Lobos missed 5 shots, committed 2 turnovers and went 1 of 4 from the FT line
The Lobos lost for just the 3rd time in their past 38 games when leading at halftime, which goes back to the start of the 2004-05 season…UNM led 33-27 at the break today…the other two losses – both on the road – were last year at Oregon (led 43-41, lost 79-75) and this season at Kansas State (led 35-26, lost 68-56)
Seniors David Chiotti and Mark Walters both reached 1,000 career points today, the first time in school history that teammates have hit the plateau in the same game…Chiotti became the 23rd Lobo to hit 1,000 when he made a 10-foot jumper with 4:05 left in the first half…Walters got to 1,000 when he nailed a 14-footer with 6:59 remaining in the game
Walters finished a career-high 26 points and now has 1,005 points in his career, 24th all-time at UNM…Walters also led the Lobos with 6 rebounds and 4 steals
Chiotti finished with a season-high 19 points and has 1,014 in his career, good for 21st place in UNM history…Chiotti passed Rob Loeffel (1,011) and Ron Becker (1,010)
The Lobos came into the game 2nd in the MWC in FT shooting at 69.8%, but they were just 9-19 (47%) today…UNM missed its first five FTs, three by Chiotti and two by Walters… the Lobos are now 56-100 (56%) from the line in 6 road games this season…meanwhile, Wyoming was 18-21 from the line today and the Pokes made their last 12 in the final minutes
New Mexico shot 50% (28-56) from the field as they lost for only the 4th time in 35 games under Ritchie McKay when shooting at least 50% from the floor
However, UNM was just 5-18 (28%) from 3-point, including 1-8 in the 2nd half…the Lobos are 29-93 (31%) from 3-point the past 5 games, lowering the season percentage to 34.4%
The Cowboys scored 50 points in the second half, the most against the Lobos after halftime since the University of San Diego got 50 on Jan. 6, 2004…UNM won that game 88-75…the Lobos were 2nd in the MWC in scoring defense at 62.2 ppg entering today’s game
The Lobos were out-rebounded by a 32-23 margin…UNM is 4-6 when gathering fewer boards in a game this season
Wyoming’s FG shooting of 55.3% (26-47) ties for the best against New Mexico this year…Kansas State shot an identical percentage on Nov. 23…the Cowboys shot 64% (14-22) in the 2nd half, including 63% (5-8) from 3-point…UW came into the game shooting just 42% from the floor on the season and was last in the loop in 3-point FGs (4.6) and 3-point FG shooting (31.8%)…the Pokes made 7 of 15 (47%) shots from 3-point today