ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team (7-2) stayed undefeated at home and sealed a season-sweep of rivals, the New Mexico State Aggies (5-5), 79-61, Wednesday in WisePies Arena.
“We’re really happy about winning,” said head coach Craig Neal. “It’s always tough when you play New Mexico State no matter what sport we play, just because it’s in state. I think we have a lot of people that live in Albuquerque that are New Mexico State grads, they also cheer for us and we cheer for them when they don’t play us, but it’s always good to win and sweep. We’ve been very fortunate to win a lot of games against them but they’ve all been tough battles.
“I can’t be more proud of my guys. They give you everything they got and I got to play a lot of guys. It was, all in all, a good victory and I’m really excited that we stayed undefeated at home and out-of-conference. We have one more against Rice and then we head to Hawaii for a big tournament. I like where we are right now.”
Elijah Brown led the Lobos with 20 points and eight rebounds, both team-highs. He shot 7-for-14 from the floor, 3-for-6 from 3-point range and 3-for-5 from the foul line. He also chipped in a career-high tying six assists. Cullen Neal was the leading distributor for New Mexico, setting a new career-high of nine assists. He also logged 13 points and four boards. Tim Williams finished his night with 10 points on 9-for-15 shooting and seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
The victory pushes the Lobos to 6-0 at home this season for the first time in three years. The Lobos will face Rice Saturday looking to seal an undefeated home nonconference record for the first time since 2010. In addition, Coach Neal will be competing for his 50th career win as a head coach.
“We want to stay undefeated at home,” stated Cullen Neal. “If you stay undefeated at home you have a really good chance of making it to the tournament. So we want to go through the season undefeated at home, we just have to keep performing and keep the fans happy.”
The Aggies had a strong first half offensively, but the Lobos controlled the game and led for over 18 minutes before halftime. The Lobos were boosted by a pair of long 3-pointers from Neal to start the game, lifting UNM to a 12-7 lead just after the five minute mark.
From there, the Lobos maintained their lead by racking up eight offensive rebounds and making 14 trips to the foul line before halftime. The Lobos led by as much as 11 points with five minutes remaining and took a 38-32 lead into the break. The Aggies shot above 50 percent in the period to stay in the game, but were held scoreless from 3-point range.
The Lobos never gave up control of the game in the second half and built on their lead immediately, outscoring the Aggies, 16-8, over the first seven minutes. The Lobos went on to shoot 56.3 percent in the second half, up nearly 20 percent, and never let the deficit slip lower than nine points.
When the Aggies did come within single digits, Williams scored back-to-back baskets and Brown hit a 3-pointer to kill their momentum. The Lobos led by as much as 19 points with a minute remaining en route to victory.
The Lobos held the Aggies scoreless from 3-point range (0-for-7), marking the first time an opponent has failed to make a 3-pointer against New Mexico since Nov. 22, 2003. On the season, the Lobos are holding opponents to 27 percent from outside.
“We didn’t know how we were going to be defensively, but we’ve become a really good defensive team like we’ve always had,” stated Coach Neal. “It’s been a staple for us. These guys have really bought in, they are smart, they understand scouting reports and that’s what’s been really big for us.”
On the other end, the Lobos shot 47.6 percent (30-for-63) from the floor and 35 percent (7-for-20) from 3-point show. The Lobos won the rebounding battle, 40-28, with 11 offensive boards.
Sam Logwood earned his second double digit scoring game of the season, logging 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. Obij Aget was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor with seven points and two blocks. Xavier Adams chipped in five points and two rebounds off the bench.
The Lobos will play their final nonconference home game Saturday against Rice at 6 p.m. in WisePies Arena.
(12/16/2015) MBB v. NMSU
Lobos Complete Sweep of Aggies, 79-61
