SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team (14-9, 7-3 MW) took the San Diego State Aztecs (18-6, 11-0 MW) to overtime on the road Saturday, but came up short, 78-71.
The Lobos were led by a combined 44 points from Elijah Brown and Tim Williams. Brown earned game-highs with 23 points and five assists. He scored 12 points at the free throw line, shooting 12-for-14. Williams scored 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting, with a team-best seven rebounds.
“I thought our guys played their butts off, I thought we had them in a position to win the game,” said head coach Craig Neal. “It was a very competitive game. They have a great team and a great program and I really respect them.”
The game was contested close throughout and within single digits from start to finish. The Lobos gave up the initial field goal, but showed their defensive prowess by shutting down the Aztecs from the field for a five minute stretch. The Lobos led by as much as four points in the first half at 16-12 with 10:09 left. San Diego State went on a run late in the half, briefly taking a 24-18 lead, but the Lobos scored 11 of the last 15 points to go up 29-28 at the break.
The Lobos fell behind early in the second half and battled back for much of the period. San Diego State would hold its largest lead of the half at 48-41 with nine minutes left, but the resilient Lobos never let the game slip away. With under four minutes left, the Lobos ripped off a 9-1 run. The Lobos took a 59-57 lead on a Xavier Adams 3-pointer with 2:36 left on the clock.
New Mexico held onto the lead and went up 66-61 with 22 seconds left on a shot-clock beating 3-pointer from Brown. The Aztecs rushed up the floor for a quick layup, and regained possession when the Lobos were called for a violation on the inbounds play*. San Diego State’s Malik Pope tied the game on a well-guarded 3-pointer to send the game into overtime at 66-66.
The Lobos looked strong at the start of the overtime period, scoring on their first possession and later taking a 71-68 lead with 2:10 remaining. However, the home Aztecs scored on their next five trips down the floor and score the final 10 points to win the game.
Facing the nation’s best field goal percentage defensive team, the Lobos finished shooting 33.8 percent (24-for-71). The Lobos were resilient and grinded out points regardless, with 18 offensive rebounds and 23 trips to the foul line. They held San Diego State to 42.6 percent (29-for-68) shooting from the floor, 14.8 percent (4-for-27) from distance. The Lobos won the turnover battle, 10-13.
Cullen Neal and Adams each scored seven points Saturday. Adams brought in a career-high six rebounds, four on offense, while Neal secured four himself. Sam Logwood had six rebounds and recorded new career highs of three blocks and four steals, tying the most steals any Lobo has earned this season. Obij Aget finished with six points on 2-for-3 shooting with three rebounds.
The Lobos will remain on the road and move on to Logan, Utah to face Utah State Tuesday at 8 p.m. MST.
*Saturday evening, the Mountain West Conference released the following statement regarding the inbound violation with 12.9 seconds left: “While this was a very close judgment call made at full speed, it has been determined after careful review of slow-motion video replays the call was in fact incorrect.” For the full statement, CLICK HERE.
(2/6/2016) MBB at San Diego State