ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team (8-6, 1-0 MW) kicked off Mountain West Conference play with a victory, defeating the Nevada Wolf Pack (8-5, 0-1 MW), 88-76, Wednesday in WisePies Arena.
“It’s good to get back on the court and get a win,” said head coach Craig Neal. “It was one of those things that I knew we could do, I knew we could play to our capabilities, and I thought for 10-15 minutes the first half we played at a high level. We’ve had some inconsistencies with the maturity of my team and that’s part of growing together. But all in all, I’m really happy with the guys. They played hard, they finished the game and they stayed together.”
The win marked the 50th career victory for Craig Neal as the head coach of New Mexico. Reaching the mark in 79 games, he’s one of the five fastest coaches to ever reach that mark.
On the court, Elijah Brown scored a team-best 24 points, 15 of which came at the foul line. He became the fourth Lobo to ever go perfect at the line with 15 attempts, one short of the school record. Brown also had five rebounds, four assists and three steals, a new career-high. Obij Aget earned a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. His point total ties a career high. Cullen Neal was the team leader in assists with six. He also finished with 11 points and two rebounds.
The Lobos had a rough start, falling into a 9-4 hole on a Nevada 3-pointer at the 16:53 mark. The lead was short lived, as the lockdown defense of New Mexico kept the Wolf Pack from making a field goal for an 11 minute stretch. During that time, the Lobos attempted to run away with the game. They built an 18 point lead at 29-11 with 7:11 left in the first half. Nevada broke the spell with just under six minutes left in the half, and finished shooting 7-for-12 to cut the Lobo lead to nine points at the break, 42-33.
Nevada came out strong again in the second half and slashed their deficit down to as low as six points in the opening five minutes. However, New Mexico dumped the ball down to the paint, scoring there in the next three possessions to maintain their lead. The Wolf Pack were in range of New Mexico for much of the second half, but foul trouble handcuffed them late, as three players fouled out. The Lobos went up by 14 points with five minutes remaining and maintained a double digit lead for the rest of the game.
The Lobos, now 7-1 inside WisePies Arena, finished the game shooting 46.7 percent (28-for-60) from the floor and 80.6 percent (29-for-36) from the foul line. New Mexico’s strong 3-point defense returned and held Nevada to 26.7 percent (4-for-15) shooting from outside. The Wolf Pack shot 43.9 percent (25-for-57) for the game. The Lobos won the rebounding battle, 37-30, with 14 offensive rebounds, the most since bringing down 23 against USC.
“Personally, it felt better as far as being a part of my team and playing like we know how to play,” said Xavier Adams. “In these past few practices, we got after each other and it showed on the court tonight.”
Tim Williams scored 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting with four boards. Xavier Adams had a career-best scoring performance with 14, doubling his season high. He shot 4-for-6 from the floor and brought down five rebounds. Sam Logwood filled up the box score with five points, five rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals.
“I thought “X” was tremendous for us off the bench, but everybody, I thought, did a good job,” praised Neal. “I’m pleased with my guys and it’s good to get back with a W.”
The Lobos will hit the road for a Saturday matchup with Fresno State at 7:30 p.m. MT.
(12/31/2015) MBB v. Nevada
Lobos Win First Mountain West Game Over Nevada
