UNM Game Notes | SJSU Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team (14-9, 7-4 MW) is set to face San Josè State (10-10, 3-6 MW) Saturday inside WisePies Arena – The Pit. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. MT and will air on ROOT Sports (Comcast 261/814 HD, DISH 414, DirecTV 683).
Due to how the Mountain West schedule was determined, this will be the only time the Lobos face San Josè State in the regular season. The Lobos are a half-game out of first place in the Mountain West, behind Nevada and Boise State.
The Lobos are coming off a close 80-77 victory over UNLV. The win marked the fifth in six games. Elijah Brown led the Lobos with 29 points, shooting 8-of-17 from the field and 8-of-8 from the foul line.
With two starters in Tim Williams and Dane Kuiper being out due to injury, the Lobos saw Obij Aget and Damien Jefferson step up. Aget finished the game with his first double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Jefferson finished with a career-high 13 points and nine rebounds, those nine coming in the second half.
In Saturday’s contest, the Lobos will be without Tim Williams and Dane Kuiper. On the season, the Loboso are averaging 76.1 pointsper game which is good for fourth in the conference. They are currently the best shooting team in the league at 47.3 percent from the field and 75.8 percent from the foul line. In league play, the Lobos are first in shooting at 47.7 percent from field-goal range.
Brown continues to lead the Lobos in the scoring column, averaging 18.9 points per game on the season and 22.0 ppg in conference games. Both numbers are second among the league. Brown is fourth in free throw percentage at 88.2 percent in league games.
San Josè State comes into the game with a 10-10 overall record and 3-6 mark in the Mountain West. Brandon Clarke is leading the Spartans in league play at 23.3 points per game, which leads the conference. He is fourth in rebounding at 8.8 per game among the league. On the season, he averages 8.1 rpg.
As a team, the Spartans are averaging 73.8 points per game and 34.3 rebounds per game. They are shooting 43.9 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from the three and 69.5 percent from the foul line.
ABOUT THE COACHES
Craig Neal is in his fourth season with the Lobos and owns a 73-47 career record. He is the first coach in MW history to win on the road at SDSU, Boise State and CSU in the same season. Dave Wojcik is in his fourth season at San Josè State. He owns a 28-84 career record with the Spartans.
ABOUT THE SERIES
This will be the 12th meeting in program history on Saturday. The series dates back to Dec. 21, 1961 but took a break from 1967-97. Another break happened until the Spartans joined the Mountain West in 2014.
The Lobos are undefeated against the Spartans, 11-0. In the series, the Lobos average 79.4 points per game and only give up an average of 59.5 points per game to the Spartans. The Lobos average scoring margin against the Spartans is 19.9 points.
ABOUT THE BROADCAST
Saturday’s game will broadcast on ROOT Sports (Comcast 261/814 HD, DISH 414, DirecTV 683). Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. MT. The game will also be available on the radio on New Mexico’s flagship station 770 KKOB with the broadcast brought to you by Robert Portnoy and Lobo great Hunter Greene. The TuneIn radio app will also be available.