Lobos Move to 3-1 with 84-78 Win Over UTEP
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY | POST-GAME NOTES | POST-GAME QUOTES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Over 11,000 Lobo fans got another close one to watch on Saturday night as The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team pulled off an 84-78 victory over the visiting UTEP Miners inside Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit. Senior Anthony Mathis led UNM with 18 points while racking up four 3-pointers for the fourth straight game.
Mathis entered the matchup ranked 15th in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 4.0. The game also marked the fourth straight in which the Lobos (3-1) have had at least four players score in double figures. Mathis led the pack and was followed by sophomore Makuach Maluach (13), redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson (12) and sophomore Vladimir Pinchuk (10).
“Great game on a lot of levels. Obviously to get over the disappointment of our last home game, but to get a crowd like that today, meant a lot,” head coach Paul Weir said. “It meant a lot to me personally and it meant a lot to our guys. Quite honestly, I prefaced them all week that we might have lost some fans with what we did last weekend. To have our fans respond like that, it’s just a blessing to be a Lobo.”
Weir registered his 50th career win with Saturday night’s victory over UTEP, his 22nd as a Lobo.
UNM held the Miners (2-3) to just seven points over the first 7:04 but offensively started just as slow. The Lobos failed to register a single point until a Jackson three at the 12:23 mark, meaning UNM fans stood for 7:37 in anticipation of a Lobo point.
“I’d be lying if I said I loved where we are at, but we’re winning and this was a game a year ago that quite frankly we would have lost. So, there is growth in that regard and hopefully we’ll be able to grow here as the season progresses,” Weir said.
For the fourth straight game, Jackson led UNM in rebounds with five, tied with Pinchuk, while Jackson and freshman Drue Drinnon each posted four assists. Drinnon’s team-high four assists came in just 11 minutes on the court. Last game he racked up a team-best four assists in 14.
Following Jackson’s first Lobo bucket, UNM went scoreless for another 3:11 while UTEP got out to its biggest lead of the game, 11 points (14-3), with 9:27 left in the first half. The teams went back-and-forth but the Lobos entered the locker room down five after a Drinnon layup with 36 seconds left, 34-29.
At the end of the first frame, the best shooting team in the Mountain West (54.1 percent) was shooting just 23.3 percent from the field (7-30), but still firing 42.9 percent from behind the arc (3-7). The first half also saw both teams combine for 25 fouls including a trio of technicals (one was a double).
UNM opened the second half on a 9-5 scoring advantage capped by Maluach’s third 3-pointer of the night to cut the UTEP lead to two, 40-38, at the 16:56 mark. The Miners again extended their lead to seven before the Lobos cut it back to two and ultimately took the lead.
Down by four, 53-49, with 12:36 left to play, Mathis drilled back-to-back threes within 21 seconds, his first and second of the game, to close the UTEP lead to one, 53-52, and then take the lead 55-53. The teams would tie it twice before the end of 40 minutes, but the Lobos did not trail again.
Mathis’ three was part of a 14-4 run that ended with a Jackson free throw and a four-point Lobo advantage, 57-53. During the 4:05 span, UNM went 4-for-5 from the floor including a momentum-turning dunk by redshirt-sophomore Keith McGee. Pinchuk collected a steal at the other end of the floor, tossed it to Drinnon who drove toward the basket but at the last second, passed to McGee who went up for two (47-49 UTEP).
Drinnon with the assist to McGee for the dunk! That brings the score to 47-49 with UTEP on top. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/zBCgxdnmBD
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) November 25, 2018
The teams tied the score at 57-57 and again at 59-59 before the Lobos began to pull away with a 7-0 run that was capped by another Mathis three to make it 67-60 at the 6:28 mark. Mathis scored just two points in the first half and finished with 16 in the second.
Mathis with his third 3-pointer of the of the night! The Lobos are up seven, 67-60. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/NeCrnVcy9H
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) November 25, 2018
UTEP got it as close as two with 2:03 left, 74-72 Lobos, but a three from senior Dane Kuiper stretched UNM’s lead back to five, 77-72. With 43 seconds left on the clock, UTEP cut it back to three, 79-76, but Mathis’ fourth three of the night with 20 seconds left proved to be a dagger for the Miners, 82-76 UNM. UTEP’s Nigel Hawkins made a layup at the other end with 13 seconds left but a Miner foul sent Mathis to the line for two more and the 84-78 final.
On the night, UNM finished shooting 44.8 percent from the floor, marking the first time this season that the Lobos have shot under 50 percent. Maluach shot 4-for-9 from the floor, 3-for-4 from behind the arc while Mathis was 5-for-7 overall, 4-for-4 from 3-point range and 4-for-5 from the free throw line.
The Lobos once again debuted a new starting lineup consisting of a pair of freshmen, a pair of sophomores and one senior leader in Mathis. The lineup marked the first official starts for freshmen Drue Drinnon and Jordan Arroyo. Arroyo started in UNM’s exhibition contest against Northern New Mexico, but this was his first that will count in the books. Pinchuk remains the only consistent starter for the Lobos as the only player to have started all four games this season.
After four straight home contests, the Lobos are set to hit the road next Saturday with the Missouri Valley/Mountain West Challenge game at Bradley on Dec. 1. At Saturday’s game in Illinois, Lobo assistant coach Jerome Robinson will be inducted to his alma mater’s Hall of Fame.
The Bradley game marks the first of three straight road games including the trip down south to NM State on Dec. 4 and the highly-anticipated game against Saint Mary’s in the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Calif. on Dec. 7.