Lobos Extend Home Win Streak to 6-0
BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY | POST-GAME NOTES | POST-GAME QUOTES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Behind a career-high tying 31 points from redshirt-senior JaQuan Lyle, The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team earned a thrilling 80-78 victory over Boise State in UNM’s earliest conference opener in Mountain West history on Wednesday. With the victory, the Lobos extend their unbeaten streak at home to 6-0 and improve to 8-2 on the season.
The 8-2 start marks the best 10-game start since the 2012-13 season when the Lobos went 10-0 through the first 10 contests, eventually stretching the streak to 12.
The last time the Lobos were 6-0 at home was in the 2016-17 season when UNM ultimately went 7-0 before falling. Prior to that, it was a 9-0 streak in 2010-11.
With the victory, the Lobos improve to 12-5 in the series (7-2 in The Pit) and the contest marks the third straight game with the Broncos (4-3) that has been decided by one possession. Last season, UNM won 73-72 on Senior Night and in the previous meeting, it was Boise State that came out on top 73-71 on Feb. 2, 2018 – all three contests were in Albuquerque.
Wednesday night’s exciting contest was a back-and-forth battle that resulted in 10 ties and 17 lead changes while UNM led for just 10:38.
After a first half that ended deadlocked at 39-39, the Lobos turned up the energy in the second half and battled for a four-point advantage (53-49) on a dunk by senior Corey Manigault at the 13:47 mark before getting out to to a five-point lead on a layup from redshirt-senior Carlton Bragg Jr. with 10:16 left to play.
Bragg smashed a dunk and a layup within 39 seconds to keep The Pit crowd roaring and extend the Lobo lead.
The squads tied the score again at 68-68 with just 5:35 left on a Lyle free throw that marked the start of 10 straight Lobo free throws over the final stretch (11 total).
With the score 68-68, Boise State’s RJ Williams, who is one of three Broncos to average scoring in double figures on the season, committed a personal foul under the Bronco basket. After exchanging words with Bragg, the pair received a double-technical foul, followed by another technical, to eject Williams and award Bragg a pair of free throws. Bragg made both, going 5-for-7 on the night from the stripe, to put UNM up by two, 70-68.
The fouls also put the Lobos in the double bonus with 2:46 left to play.
Lyle was awarded two more shots just 15 seconds later to give the Lobos a four-point advantage, 72-68 with 4:53 left.
Boise State got back on top 76-73 with 2:28 on the clock but the Lobos tied it back up 76-76 with a pair of free throws from Bragg and one from Lyle before Lyle put UNM back up by one (77-76) with his second of a pair with just 1:02 left.
Bragg put the Lobos back on top by just one with a layup in the paint with 34 seconds on the clock (79-78) and the clock wound down to three seconds left with the Lobos still holding the advantage.
Boise State attempted a go-ahead three on a right corner three from senior Alex Hobbs, who collected 14 points on the night, but the shot missed and Lobo redshirt-junior Zane Martin collected the defensive rebound and was fouled with 2.1 seconds left.
Martin made one of his two from the stripe to put UNM up by two (80-78) and Boise State attempted to fire the ball down court where Caldwell intercepted it, but went out of bounds. After official review, 0.9 seconds were put back on the clock and the Broncos called their final timeout to attempt one last shot, a corner three from leading-scorer Justinian Jessup (24 points). The shot missed its target for the 80-78 final.
On the night, UNM turned the ball over just six times marking a season low.
The Lobos had to climb out of an early 8-0 deficit when the Broncos scored on their first three possessions before junior Makuach Maluach notched the first Lobo basket, a layup, at the 17:32 mark. The Broncos went on to make six of their first seven shots of the period to keep the Boise State advantage at eight (14-6).
The Broncos kept shooting and with 11:23 left in the first half were firing at a clip of 81.8 percent from the floor (9-11) while UNM was shooting just 46.2 percent from the field (6-13).
The Lobos closed the gap to two on a Zane Martin steal and fast-break layup (19-21 BSU) before redshirt-junior JJ Caldwell made a layup at the 9:18 mark to tie the game for the first time, 21-21.
UNM took its first lead with 2:40 left in the first half when Lyle hit a pair of threes and a jumper, interrupted by just a layup from the Broncos for an 8-2 run over 2:52.
The Broncos got ahead by two twice in the remaining minutes of the first half but a Maluach fast-break layup and a Manigault field goal had the score tied at the break, 39-39.
UNM improved its shooting percentage throughout the first half and ultimately outshot the Broncos 55.2-53.6 percent from the floor. Boise State however held a commanding advantage from behind the arc at 50 percent (7-14) compared to just 33.3 percent (3-9) for the Lobos.
New Mexico’s 3-point percentage didn’t get better as the second half went on as UNM shot 0-for-5 in the second half to finish 3-for-14 on the night, matching the lowest made threes in a game this season for UNM.
Boise State registered 14 threes, six of which were from standout senior Justinian Jessup. The last time the Lobos allowed 14 threes was last season on Feb. 16, 2019 when the Lobos fell to Fresno State at home by a score of 81-73. UNM allowed 14 3-pointers last season, also dropping a Mountain West contest to UNLV on Jan. 22, 2019 when the Runnin’ Rebels shot 14-for-25 from behind the arc.
New Mexico is set to return to action on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. for its second Mountain West contest on the road in Laramie, Wyoming.