Box Score (PDF) | Post-Game Notes
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered its first loss inside WisePies Arena – The Pit this season on Saturday, falling to Nevada in overtime, 105-104. The Lobos are now 9-7 on the season and 2-2 in Mountain West play.
“Those were some tough lessons for our boys,” said head coach Craig Neal. “I don’t think I have ever been in a game like that. You have to give them (Nevada) credit for their fight.”
Tim Williams and Elijah Brown combined for 52 points, each scoring 26. Williams hit 10 of his 16 attempts while Brown finished 7-for-15 from the field. The Lobos had two others in double-digits in freshmen Jalen Harris and Damien Jefferson. Harris and Jefferson finished with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Harris led the Lobos in rebounding with nine.
The game started out well for the Lobos. They took a 16-11 lead over the Wolf Pack into the 12-minute media timeout. They would extend their lead to 38-27 after a jumper from Harris with 2:53 left in the first half. The Lobos scored 11 points in the final four minutes of the half and held Nevada to just six points in that stretch, leading 44-31 at halftime.
“I thought our guys played real aggressive, they were playing the passing lanes and once we got up we just stopped guarding. They kept fighting but we just didn’t finish it.”
New Mexico maintained their lead in the second half, extending it to 25, the Lobos biggest lead of the game, with 11 minutes left to play. The Lobos led by 16 points with 2:48 left to play but Nevada started to work its way back.
“We took some quick shots in the clock and quick shots when we were up. If you don’t go down and get a few defensive stops, it’s going to hurt you.”
Nevada hit seven straight threes in the final minute and 49 seconds. The Lobos had an 11 point lead going into the final minute but went 4-for-10 from the free throw line and allowed Nevada to hit a game-tying three with eight seconds left on the clock to send the game into overtime.
“We got kind of complacent on defense,” Neal added.
In overtime, the Lobos took a 103-98 lead with a little under three minutes left. The Lobos did not get any offense going until 8.7 seconds left on the clock when Brown hit one of two free throws. Nevada call timeout to draw up a play and followed through with a game-winning three with two seconds left on the clock.
For the game, the Lobos shot better than the Wolf Pack, 49.3 percent to 48.0 percent. From the line, the Lobos finished 26-for-40 (65 percent) and only made six of 17 three attempts (35.3 percent).
The Lobos have another quick turnaround as they play host to UNLV on Wednesday at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be available on ESPN3. For tickets, visit unmtickets.com or by calling (505) 925-LOBO.