BOX SCORE (PDF) | POST-GAME QUOTES
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — In an arena full of palpable tension and in front of a crowd of angry Aggie fans, The University of New Mexico Lobos suffered their first loss of the season on the road at New Mexico State Friday night. While the Lobos kept the score in reach for the first two-thirds of the game, the Aggies pulled away, doubling their lead in the last five minutes and eventually dominating with a final score of 75-56.
Junior Anthony Mathis led the Lobos with 14 points on the night, just two shy of his career high of 16. He went 4-for-5 from the field including 3-for-4 from behind the arc and 3-for-4 at the free throw line.
As a team, the Lobos (2-1) shot slightly under NMSU (2-1) at 38.5 percent to 39.1 percent while the Aggies dominated the boards, collecting 50 rebounds split evenly between offensive and defensive. In comparison, UNM collected a total of 25, including nine offensive rebounds.
“Their dominance of the offensive glass set a tone, gave them a lot of energy, and we just couldn’t overcome it,” head coach Paul Weir said. “You’ve got to give New Mexico State a lot of credit, they just never allowed us to ever implement and do what we wanted to do, it just took the wind out of our sails.
“I think your first road game of the season is always a good measuring stick, to see where you’re at, and now we have to learn and grow from it and just get better.”
The Lobos dominated the first five minutes of play, getting out to a 8-1 lead before allowing NMSU its first bucket from the floor at the 15:49 mark. At that point, the Lobos led 8-3 with senior Sam Logwood accounting for six points.
Junior Chris McNeal followed with a three to continue to build the Lobo lead to eight (11-3). A 2:10 scoring drought ensued, interrupted by an Aggie free throw.
A 3-pointer by Sidy N’Dir at the 12:51 mark sparked an NMSU comeback that included two jumpers and two dunks within 2:18 to make it just a one-point lead for the Lobos, 16-15 – and that was when the momentum turned. Another dunk 20 seconds later began a 6-0 run for NMSU.
The Lobos battled back and a layup by freshman Vladimir Pinchuk made it a three-point game headed into halftime.
The Aggies opened the second half with a pair of threes to take a nine-point lead, the largest of the game and began to run away but the Lobos battled. UNM chipped away at a 12-point deficit with back-to-back threes in less than a minute from Mathis and freshman Makuach Maluach but NMSU pushed the lead back out to 10.
With just six minutes left and the Lobos down by just seven, 54-47, junior Troy Simons was ejected due to technical foul accumulation (two). A Lobo bench technical followed four minutes later and the Aggies put the game out of reach for the win.
UNM entered the game averaging 17.5 3-pointers and 44.5 field goals per game but managed just six and 20, respectively, on the night.
The Lobos will return home to Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit on Tuesday, Nov. 21 when they take on Tennessee Tech in non-conference action at 7 p.m. The game will be available to watch live on the Mountain West Network and will be broadcast on 770 KKOB-AM.