LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team (17-15) lost its Mountain West Conference Tournament Quarterfinal matchup against the Nevada Wolf Pack (19-12), 64-62, Thursday.
“Well, you’ve got to give Nevada credit,” stated head coach Craig Neal. “I thought our guys played hard. I thought we were in position to make some plays to win the game late. It just didn’t happen for us. I thought our guys gave great effort. If you look at the stats, we held them to 42 percent shooting, 28 percent from 3. Had more free throws and more 3’s made, but their 2-point field goals were the difference and their offensive rebounding was the difference.”
Elijah Brown led the Lobos offensively with 26 points and seven rebounds. He shot 4-for-8 from 3-point range and went 11-for-12 from the foul line. Tim Williams had a team-best eight rebounds, two blocks and 12 points. Sam Logwood scored a season-high 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting, while Tim Jacobs recorded a team-best four assists with five rebounds.
The Lobos played a close game with the Wolf Pack in which neither team led by more than six points. The visitors took a quick 7-2 lead, their largest of the game, but the Lobos answered with a 3-pointer from Brown and took their first lead at 10-9. From there, both teams exchanged four point leads, but most of the half remained a one-possession game. The Lobos trailed by a point at halftime, 29-28.
After a pair of Nevada free throws, Logwood hit a 3-pointer that tied the game and sparked an 8-0 run. Nevada came back to retake the lead at 45-44, but within minutes, an 8-1 run for the Lobos gave them their largest lead of the game at 54-48. However it was answered by six straight Nevada points to tie the game with 3:36 left.
Over the last 3:30 of the game, the two teams remained within two points of each other. With the Lobos down by a point, Logwood scored his 16th point on a transition put back to give New Mexico a 62-61 lead. Nevada scored on the ensuing possession on a Tyron Criswell layup with 34 seconds left. After a timeout, the Lobos had two attempts from 3-point range, but did not convert on either. Eric Cooper hit a free throw with a half second on the clock to seal the final score at 64-62.
The Lobos finished the game shooting 35.8 percent (19-for-53) overall and 40 percent (8-for-20) from 3-point range. The Lobos were also 80 percent (16-for-20) from the foul line. Nevada finished at 40 percent (24-for-60) and were held to 28.6 percent (4-for-14) from distance.
(3/10/2016) MBB vs. Nevada (MW Tournament)
Lobos Fall to Nevada in MW Quarterfinals
