Lobos Edged in Final Seconds by Utah State
BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY | POST-GAME NOTES | POST-GAME QUOTES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team executed a furious comeback to take the lead and maintain it into the final two seconds on Saturday afternoon, but ultimately fell to Utah State 68-66 after a called turnover and an ensuing Aggie 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left on the clock.
“It’s disappointing for us to fight back like that in the second half and come so close to a win,” head coach Paul Weir said. “Unfortunately, often one play does mean a lot for us. Sometimes we need calls that might be 50/50 to go our way.”
The Lobos (9-11, 3-5 MW) trailed the Aggies (15-5, 5-2 MW) by as much as 10, 50-40, at the 12:51 mark in the second half but reduced the deficit to just one with a 9-0 run over 3:44 to make it 50-49 with 9:07 left. The run was sparked by a layup from senior Anthony Mathis followed by another from sophomore Makuach Maluach and then a dagger of a three from Mathis to make it a three-point game, 50-47.
Mathis finished with 16 points on the night, all of which were in the second half.
With the crowd on its feet and the energy in The Pit nearly palpable, redshirt-junior Carlton Bragg, who led the Lobos with a career-high 18 points, hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game, 50-49 and then, after an Aggie jumper, hit a jumper of his own to keep it at one, 52-51.
Utah State standout and leading scorer Sam Merrill hit another jump shot to put the Aggies back ahead by three before Mathis responded just nine seconds later with a three of his own to tie the score at 54-54 with 7:55 left.
A three from redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson tied it up again at the 6:32 mark, 59-59 and the Aggies got ahead by two before Mathis hit an exciting, fast-break three, his fourth of the night, to give the Lobos their first lead since the first 15 seconds of the game, 62-61 UNM with 5:33 left.
Utah State responded with a triple of its own and the teams tied the game once more at the four-minute mark when Mathis made yet another layup, 64-64. The Lobos increased the lead to two, 66-64 on a Jackson jumper with 2:56 to go.
A Utah State free throw with 1:25 on the clock made it a one-point game, 66-65 Lobos, and a jump ball was forced with 37 seconds left in favor of UNM.
Mathis took the ball out and brought it to half court in pressure, looking to hold on to the one-point advantage. He approached half court, looked and passed ahead to Jackson in attempt to get out of trouble, but the referees called backcourt to the dismay of Lobo fans, causing the potential game-winning possession to turnover to the Aggies with 31 seconds left.
The Aggies ran out the clock and sophomore Abel Porter hit just his eighth 3-pointer of the season with 1.8 seconds left to put Utah State back up by two.
Both coaches called timeouts and Mathis made a last-ditch effort from half court to hit another gamewinner, but the shot bounced off of the backboard for the 68-66 final.
A post-game statement from the Mountain West Conference:
The Lobos had four players score in double figures including Bragg with 18, followed by Mathis with 16, Jackson (13) and Maluach (12). Jackson also led the Lobos in rebounds with seven followed by Bragg who posted six.
UNM shot just 27.6 percent from the floor in the first half, but in the second fired at a clip of 50 percent including 45.5 percent from 3-point range. The Lobos’ totals for the night were 39.0 percent from the field compared to 49.1 percent for the Aggies and 33.3 percent from behind the arc compared to 50 percent for Utah State.
The Lobos turned the ball over just 11 times while forcing 13 and the UNM bench outscored Utah State’s 32-8. The Aggies led for 32:23 of the contest while UNM was in front for 4:59.
UNM has its first bye this week and returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 2 at Fresno State on ESPNU.