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Mathis Scores 21, Defense Unravels in Second Half

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SAN DIEGO, Calif. — After trailing by just five points at halftime, The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team fell by a final score of 97-77 to defending Mountain West Champion San Diego State on the road on Tuesday night. Senior Anthony Mathis registered his sixth 20+ point game of the season and went 6-for-10 from behind the arc. 

The loss marks the third straight for the Lobos (8-9, 2-3 MW) after topping then No. 5/6 Nevada in exciting fashion in The Pit on Jan. 5. The win improves the Aztec record to 10-7, 2-2 in conference play.

Mathis went an outstanding 4-for-4 from behind the arc in the first half, along with a free throw, for a total of 13 early points. He finished the night 6-for-10 from 3-point range and went 3-for-4 from the line.

Mathis led four Lobos to score in double figures including redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson, 16 points and a team-high six rebounds, as well as redshirt-junior Carlton Bragg (12 points), and senior Dane Kuiper (11 points). While starting sophomore Makuach Maluach did not continue his double-digit scoring streak, finishing with no points, he did lead the Lobos in assists with five.

UNM shot 42.9 percent from the floor, 40.6 percent from 3-point range including 13 made threes, but SDSU fired at a clip of 55.1 percent from the floor, 43.5 percent from behind the arc. Heading into Tuesday night’s game, the Lobos were 6-3 when shooting over 40 percent from the floor. While 40 percent is usually enough for the Lobos to win, New Mexico has allowed the last three straight opponents to shoot 50 percent or better. 

The Lobos got out to another slow start on Tuesday as the Aztecs jumped out to a 10-point lead, 17-7 at the 15:08 mark. After SDSU increased the lead to 11 at the 13:10 mark, the Lobos embarked on an exciting 11-2 run that included back-to-back threes from Mathis, the second allowed by a steal from Ezzeddine on the Aztec side of the court. The run also included a pair of free throws and a three from redshirt-sophomore Keith McGee, 21-19 SDSU with 11:20 left.
 


The Aztecs made it 23-19 before another Mathis three, his third in less than three minutes, made it a one-point game, 23-22, with 10:14 left to play in the first half.

The Lobos tied it up twice in the first half, the first at the 5:02 mark at 30-30 on a free throw by sophomore Vladimir Pinchuk to cap a 5-0 run, and the second at the 4:16 mark on a pair of free throws by Bragg (32-32).

With just 55 seconds left to play in the half, Bragg cut yet another SDSU four-point lead to two, 41-39 on a jumper before SDSU’s Aguek Arop stole the ball under the Lobo basket with four seconds left. Arop sprinted toward half court, looked up at the clock as it dwindled, and fired a hail-Mary shot from the free throw line. The 3/4-court shot went in at the buzzer and the Aztecs were up at the half by five, 44-39.

“I thought the last play of the first half and probably the first four minutes of the second half were the difference in the game,” head coach Paul Weir said. “We were controlling the ball and they weren’t making threes. Unfortunately in the beginning of the second half, we turned it over three times in the first four minutes and they started making threes.”

The second half quickly got out of control as Bragg registered a layup to make it a three-point game out of the break, 44-41, but then SDSU’s Devin Watson hit a pair of threes within 31 seconds to begin to squelch the Lobo momentum.

The Aztecs got out to a 10-point lead on another three from Watson with 16:58 left and Kuiper responded to cut the game back to single digits – twice – with a pair of back-to-back threes. His 3-pointer at the 14:47 mark to cut the game to eight points (57-49) was the last time the Lobos would keep the game within single digits.

SDSU responded by rattling off seven straight points and continued to pile them on for the eventual 20-point victory. SDSU got out by as many as 26 points with as little as 3:47 on the clock, but UNM’s Jackson, Mathis, McGee and freshman Drue Drinnon put up a layup, a pair of threes and four free throws to get the game closer before time expired.

The Lobos turned the ball over 17 times on the night, compared to just 13 for SDSU. The Aztecs outscored UNM in the paint, 50-16, off of turnovers, 27-21 and in second-chance points, 18-10.

UNM is set to return to action on Saturday, Jan. 19 at home against Wyoming. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. MT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.