SAN JOSE, Calif. — In a season that has included intense highs, the Lobos suffered a disappointing low on Tuesday night with a seven-point loss to the Mountain West’s only remaining winless team in league play. Four Lobos scored in double figures in the 89-82 loss at San José State, including redshirt-sophomore Keith McGee who posted a UNM-career-high 25 points on 10-for-19 from the floor and 5-for-11 from behind the arc.
McGee has led the Lobos (11-16, 5-10 MW) in three of the last six games in scoring. Leading scorer for UNM on the season, senior Anthony Mathis, was able to register just five points, but his lone three on the night extended his 3-pointer streak to 20 straight games, good for seventh in Lobo program history.
The other three Lobos to score in double figures included junior Corey Manigault (17) and redshirt-junior Carlton Bragg (17) followed by sophomore Makuach Maluach (14). Bragg also registered his second double-double of the season with a season-high 16 rebounds.
The Spartans (4-23, 1-14 MW) fired at a rate of 48.4 percent on the night, marking their fourth-highest shooting percentage on the season behind a pair of 20-point scorers in sophomore Noah Baumann (26) and junior Michael Steadman (21).
“I thought Steadman was terrific, we quite frankly we couldn’t guard him,” head coach Paul Weir said. “Baumann obviously made some terrific shots, really challenged deep ones. Some of them you’ve got to tip your cap to him, some of them are obviously defensive lapses as well.
“I thought our second-half defense was a lot better but that first half, was awful. I thought Steadman and Baumann were the two best players on the court tonight, they were exceptional.”
The Lobos’ loss to the Spartans marks just the second in program history, UNM is now 14-2 in the series and 5-1 on the road.
UNM went into halftime down by just one, 47-46, but with 7:35 left on the clock in the second half, found itself down by 11, 76-65. The Lobos held the Spartans scoreless for three minutes before cutting the deficit down to seven on a pair of Bragg free throws and a Manigault layup with 3:21 left to play, 76-69.
The renewed, second-half Lobo defense held SJSU scoreless for 6:13 before SJSU’s Brae Ivey made a layup with 1:22 left to bring the Spartan lead back to nine (78-69). Despite holding SJSU scoreless, the Lobos were unable to capitalize offensively throughout the silent stint.
A McGee layup made it a seven-point game with 1:14 left, 78-71, before SJSU’s Zach Chappell responded with a pair of free throws to even it back out, 80-71 with 1:08 left.
The Lobos attempted the comeback, forcing fouls to stop the clock, but SJSU went 7-for-8 from the free throw line over the last 50 seconds to prevent UNM from reclaiming the lead.
New Mexico got the game as close as six, just two possessions, with 47 seconds left after the pair of free throws from Chappell followed by a three from McGee, 82-76, and Coach Weir took his final timeout.
McGee fouled at the 45-second mark and Ivey made another pair of free throws to increase the SJSU lead to eight.
Another McGee three with 29 seconds left provided hope for UNM, trailing five points (84-79) with 29 seconds to go, but three more free throws and an alley-oop with 12 seconds left sealed the win for the Spartans. Maluach made a three with two seconds left, but with UNM down by 10, it resulted in the seven-point final.
While the Spartans shot 72.7 percent from the charity stripe on the night, UNM shot a dismal 42.1 percent, its lowest percentage on the season from the line. The Lobos went 8-for-19 from the stripe, accounting for 11 points left behind in the seven-point loss.
The Lobos struggled in the first half, allowing SJSU to get out to an early seven-point lead, 14-7, at the 14:58 mark before responding with an eventual 10-0 run from the 12:27 mark (20-14) to the 10:51 mark to make it 24-20 Lobos. The run was capped by a McGee three with Mathis on the assist.
ICYMI: Here is the McGee THREE that capped the Lobos’ 10-0 run. McGee leads the Lobos with 10 points with 7:22 left in the first half. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/LklkCxoMjv
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) February 27, 2019
Tuesday night’s game had nine lead changes and four ties while the Lobos led by as much as six in the first half and the Spartans led by as much as 13 with 14:09 left in the second. Both teams posted evening-best runs of 10-0.
On the night, UNM shot 40.2 percent from the floor, 23.5 from three, while SJSU was 48.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three (11-22).
The Lobos are back in action on Saturday, March 2 as they return home to host Colorado State inside Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit at 8 p.m. MT on ESPNU.