FORT COLLINS, COLO. — The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team broke more records in its 108-87 victory on Wednesday night at Colorado State, clinching a first-round bye in the 2018 Mountain West Tournament. UNM’s 21-point victory margin marks the most ever over the Rams in Fort Collins, the previous high was 19 in 2008.
If that stat isn’t enough, the victory also marks the first time in program history that the Lobos have notched back-to-back 100-point games on the road. UNM has only scored 100+ points on the road eight times in program history.
The victory extends UNM’s win streak to a season-best four and moves the Lobos to 16-14 overall, 11-6 in Mountain West play. Eleven conference wins marks the most since UNM went to the NCAA Tournament in 2014. Colorado State falls to 11-20, 4-14 MW.
“Our offense is in a really good rhythm right now. I think we’ve got a great balance of transition, some inside scorers, some outside scorers and getting to the free throw line,” head coach Paul Weir said. “Turnovers are still an issue … I didn’t think we were as sharp as I would have liked throughout the entire 40 minutes.
“I’m glad to be a favorite on the road and actually go out and handle our business. We’ve had some games where we didn’t do that … but I thought tonight we showed a bit of growth there. You’ve got to give Colorado State credit, I thought they played well in the second half.”
The Lobos were led by seven players in double figures, the most in a conference game this season, paced by senior Joe Furstinger who collected a career-high 22 points on a near-perfect performance. He went 6-of-7 from the floor and a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line while adding a pair of blocks. He also led the Lobos with seven rebounds on the night.
The next-leading scorer was senior Sam Logwood (15) followed by junior Anthony Mathis (14), senior Antino Jackson (13), freshman Makuach Maluach (12) and juniors Chris McNeal and Troy Simons with 10 apiece. Jackson also added nine assists, nearly reaching a rare point-assist double-double.
The Lobos jumped out to an early start on Wednesday and didn’t let up en route to the sweep of the Rams.
UNM quickly got a ahead by six, 11-5 before exploding on a 10-0 run to jump out to a 16-point lead, 21-5, just 5:39 into the contest. The Lobos extended the lead to 20 at the 10:03 mark on a 3-pointer from McNeal, 32-12 before making it a 30-point game with 5:01 left on a jumper by Simons. CSU chipped but couldn’t shave more than four points off of the deficit before the end of the half.
The halftime score was 58-32 in favor of the Lobos for a 26-point advantage.
At the break, UNM was firing at a blistering clip of 71.4 percent from the floor (20-28), marking the highest shooting percentage in the first half this season.
In the second half, Colorado State went on an 8-0 run over 1:03 to make it a 21-point game, 63-42, with 17:49 on the clock, forcing Coach Weir to call a timeout. The Lobo lead fluctuated between 25 and 17 for the next 7:41 until Colorado State got the game to 16 points on a 6-0 run that include a pair of jumpers and a layup.
Coach Weir called his final timeout and junior Dane Kuiper hit a jumper before three straight free throws from CSU made it a 15-point game, 98-83. The Lobos went on an 8-2 run on layups by Mathis and Maluach and a pair of free throws from both Furstinger and Logwood to put the margin back in the twenties, 106-85 with 2:11 left.
It was Simons who hit the final bucket of the game, a jumper with 1:09 left, for the 108-87 final.
UNM outscored CSU in the paint 48-40, off of turnovers 34-22 and off the bench 54-24. The Lobos also finished shooting 60.7 percent on the night compared to 50 percent for the Rams. In the first half, UNM shot 71.4 percent to CSU’s 37.9 percent, but in the second half the Rams outshot the Lobos 60.6 percent to 51.5 percent.
In addition, UNM finished 27-of-31 from two-point range for 87.1 percent, marking the best two-point percentage for the Lobos since at least the 2001-02 season.
CSU was led by four players scoring in double figures including junior Prentiss Nixon who led all players with 27 points.
The Lobos have clinched the first-round bye, but will battle Fresno State for third place in the Mountain West standings on Saturday, March 3 at 7 p.m. at home in Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit to close the regular season. The game will mark Senior Night for the Lobos, honoring Furstinger, Logwood and Jackson.