ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team (10-8, 3-2 MW) lost at home for the second time this season, falling to the Wyoming Cowboys (10-9, 3-3 MW), 70-68, Saturday.
The Lobos were led offensively by Tim Williams, who logged team highs with 17 points and nine rebounds. He shot 7-for-11 from the floor, improving on his 59 percent shooting mark that leads the Mountain West Conference. Sam Logwood recorded a career-high five assists and tied his career best of seven rebounds.
“Give Wyoming credit, they played really, really well,” said head coach Craig Neal. “Josh Adams was a lot to handle tonight, he put them on their back. We had a great crowd again, our guys just didn’t play up to their capabilities. We had to do some juggling and got off to a bad start, but we just couldn’t get into a rhythm. I thought we were going to turn the corner, but we have a lot of work to do.”
The Cowboys led for more than half of the first period, but never could create more than a seven-point distance from the home team. The Lobos would find themselves down, 22-15, with 8:23 left in the first half, but scored 13 of the next 19 points to tie the contest at 28 with 3 minutes left before the break. The Lobos held the Cowboys to a free throw, while one more bucket in the paint from Obij Aget put the Lobos up at halftime, 30-29.
The Lobos took advantage of the early portion of the second half, and went up, 46-40, with 13:49 left, the team’s largest lead of the game. From there, New Mexico went over five minutes without scoring, which allowed for a 12-0 run by the Cowboys.
Wyoming would lead by as much as nine points at 62-53 with five minutes on the clock. The Lobos nearly completed a comeback in the final minutes, coming within a point on an Elijah Brown free throw with 26 seconds left. Wyoming was fouled on the ensuing possession, but the road team made one of two free throw attempts. New Mexico had possession, down two points with 25 seconds left, but committed a turnover. Wyoming’s Josh Adams made two free throws with seven seconds left that all but iced the game.
Adams led the Cowboys with 38 points, the most of any visiting player inside WisePies Arena since 2003. He shot 10-for-15 from the floor, while the rest of the Cowboys were held to 11-for-35 shooting.
The Lobos shot 49.1 percent (26-for-53) overall, while Wyoming made 42 percent (21-for-50) of their attempts. The Lobos won the rebounding battle, 39-27, and only committed 10 turnovers.
Brown, Cullen Neal and Xavier Adams all scored 13 points apiece. Neal shot 5-for-10 from the floor, while Adams went 5-for-8. Brown also added five rebounds and a steal. Aget scored 11 points and secured five boards.
The Lobos will hit the road for their next contest on Saturday, Jan. 23 at San Jose State at 3 p.m. MT.
(1/16/2016) MBB v. Wyoming
Lobos Fall to Wyoming for Second Home Loss
