RENO, Nev. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered its first loss in five games, falling at Nevada on Saturday afternoon, 82-65. The Lobos are now 13-9 on the season and 6-4 in the Mountain West. Nevada is 18-4 overall and 7-2 in the Mountain West.
“I didn’t think we had the same edge that we have had previously on the road,” said head coach Craig Neal. “It was a big atmosphere today but I still feel good about where we are.
“We have to get better and we have to keep going,” Neal said.
Elijah Brown and Tim Williams led the Lobos with a combined 36 points, each scoring 18. Brown was 5-for-16 from the field, 3-for-9 from the three and 5-for-7 from the foul line. Williams was 8-for-12 from the field and 2-for-4 from the foul line. Williams led the Lobos with six rebounds, while Brown finished with 5.
In the first half, Nevada jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the first four minutes. Elijah Brown brought the Lobos back and took the lead with six straight points. Williams would score three in the next two minutes to take a 14-12 lead over Nevada.
Nevada would go on a 14-6 run in the next four minutes to regain the lead, 26-20. The Lobos brought themselves within one, 29-28, after a two from Williams. Nevada outscored the Lobos 6-3 in the final four minutes to take a 37-31 halftime lead.
To start the second half, the Lobos brought the game within one after a Brown three and a layup from Williams. But Nevada went on a couple runs in the half, taking a 13-point lead with 10:18 left to play. The Lobos brought the game within six with 6:27 left to play but Nevada pushed its lead to 15 with 2:26 left and eventually to its biggest lead of 17 with 16 seconds left.
On the afternoon, the Lobos shot 40 percent from the field, 21.7 percent from the three and 76.2 percent from the foul line. The Lobos turned the ball over 17 times, which resulted in 20 Nevada points.
“We can’t turn the ball over 17 times,” Neal said.
The Lobos did outscore Nevada in the paint 30-22, off the bench 18-9 and in second-chance points 9-8.
New Mexico will be on the road against next week, facing UNLV on Wednesday in Las Vegas, Nevada at 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT. The game will air on CBS Sports Network.