ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team (14-8, 7-2 MW) won its fourth straight game Tuesday, marking its longest winning streak of the season, against the UNLV Rebels (13-10, 4-6 MW), 87-83, in WisePies Arena.
“My team is growing up,” stated head coach Craig Neal. “I like me team, they’re a lot of fun. I’ll just say this, we’ve got to keep working, but I’ll take any of my guys. I’m just glad we were able to recruit a guy from Samford and a guy from Butler. Now you guys know that those guys are pretty good. That’s a credit to my staff that recruited them. I’m really excited for them. I’ve got a really special feeling about these guys, I always have.”
The Lobos were led by a 29-point effort from Tim Williams, his career-high as a Lobo. He shot 10-for-15 from the floor and 9-for-12 from the free throw line. He also notched team-bests with eight rebounds and two blocks. Elijah Brown chipped in 26 points, five rebounds and a game-high four assists. He went 12-for-12 from the foul line, becoming just the second Lobo ever to shoot perfect with at least 12 free throws made in multiple games. Cullen Neal scored 11 points and recorded a career-high six rebounds. He also matched Brown’s team-best four assists.
“I think the players made nice adjustments to get Williams the ball,” Neal said. “I think he willed us to win. I’ve got to give Cullen and Elijah credit because they were getting blitzed. Cullen just said to get Williams the ball and as it turns out, they just couldn’t stay in front of him. We ran some nice sets, got him the ball, and you’ve got to give all the guys credit because they sacrificed and Williams was able to make big plays.”
“I knew I had to step up and play a lot better than I did on the road to help my team win tonight,” said Williams. “Of course that bad taste is in your mouth, I think as a group we didn’t play our best game up there, so tonight we just wanted to get a big win.”
The contest was a nail-biter from start to finish, with neither team ever leading by double digits. The Lobos and Rebels each exchanged five point leads early in the first half, but neither were able to pull away. New Mexico led for almost 12 minutes of the first half, and with 12 seconds remaining in the period, took a seven-point lead at 47-40. The largest lead either team would hold was immediately slashed by a Patrick McCaw 3-pointer, bringing the halftime score to 47-43.
The Rebels scored the first six points of the second half to eliminate the Lobo advantage. From the first bucket of the second half until the final 15 seconds, neither team would lead by more than a possession. With the score tied at 70 with 7:16 left, Williams took over the game offensively. He scored 12 straight points for New Mexico and shot 5-for-5 in the paint with one 3-point play.
The end of Williams’ run gave the Lobos an 82-79 advantage with less than a minute to play. New Mexico went to the foul line on the next three possessions, with Neal and Xavier Adams combining to shoot 5-for-6. On the opposite end, the Lobos forced the Rebels to shoot 2-for-5 to go up by as much as six points and win their seventh Mountain West Conference game.
“I think it shows that we’re maturing as a group, to win a tight game like this,” Williams said. “Earlier in the conference season we’ve lost games like this. I’m glad that we got this one tonight.”
Overall, the Lobos shot 45.9 percent (16-for-33) from the floor and 77.8 percent (13-for-19) from the free throw line. They held UNLV to 43.3 percent (14-for-33) shooting and limited them to 16 free throw attempts. The Lobos scored 50 points in the paint, matching a season high and scoring 20 more than the Rebels. The Lobos also won the rebounding battle, 38-32, with 10 offensive rebounds.
Obij Aget scored 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting with seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. Adams scored six points on 2-for-3 shooting with four boards, while Sam Logwood recorded five points, three rebounds, two assists a block and a steal.
The Lobos will take their four game winning streak to San Diego, California to face the San Diego State Aztecs Saturday at 1 p.m. PST, 2 p.m. MST. The game pits the top two teams in the Mountain West against each other.
(2/2/2016) MBB v. UNLV