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Lobos Upended in Second Half; Jackson Scores 30

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After firing at 40 percent from the floor and going into halftime with a three-point advantage, The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team was outscored in the second half by second-place Fresno State on Saturday, falling by a final score of 81-73. Redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson scored a career-high 30 points in the contest, including 20 in the first half, marking the first time a Lobo has done so since 2017.

Jackson went 8-for-15 from the floor including 4-for-6 from 3-point range while shooting 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. His 30 points marks the first time a Lobo has netted 30 this season, and also the first time a Lobo has scored 30 points since Feb. 21, 2017 when former Lobo Elijah Brown achieved the feat against Wyoming.

The Lobos (11-14, 5-8 MW) were led by Jackson and another pair to rack up double figures including junior Corey Manigault (16) and senior Anthony Mathis (13). Manigault’s 16 points marks the second straight game in which he has scored 15 points or more while Mathis has scored 10+ points in 20-of-25 games this season.

Redshirt-junior Carlton Bragg pulled down 10 boards and was the only player to do so in the game.

Throughout the first half, UNM went 40.0 percent from the floor, 45.5 percent from three, and made 13 free throws for 86.7 percent from the line (13-15). Fresno State got into early foul trouble, forcing limited minutes for Bulldog leading scorer Braxton Huggins. Huggins saw just 4:32 of action in the first half and went scoreless, but tallied 19 in the second half during Fresno State’s comeback. He followed Deshon Taylor who led Fresno State with 26 points, 7-for-15, 5-for-8 from three, and 7-for-9 from the stripe.

“Taylor made a couple (threes) in the first half, Huggins made a couple in the second, and Taylor made another in the second. They made about five threes from beyond NBA range, and quite honestly that’s not something that we are going out to try and take away.” head coach Paul Weir said. “You have to tip your hat at some of those, they are great players making very deep shots.”

Fresno State (19-6, 10-3 MW) got out to an early six-point lead, 10-4 at the 14:55 mark in the first half before Mathis hit his first three of the game to cut it back to three, 10-7. The Bulldogs again took a six-point lead but the Lobos went on a 6-0 run that included an and-1 for Jackson, followed by Mathis’ second three of the night to tie it up 13-13.

With 5:39 left in the half, the Lobos trailed by eight, 30-22, but the UNM offense caught fire and went on a 16-5 run to close the first half. 

The Lobo run included four free throws by Manigault (2) and Jackson (2) along with a layup from Manigault before Jackson hit a three to make it a one-point game, 32-31 Fresno State. The Bulldogs responded with a three of their own to make it a four-point game, 35-31.

Just 38 seconds after Jackson’s three, redshirt-sophomore Keith McGee capitalized on the momentum and made a massive dunk to bring The Pit crowd of 12,494 to its feet. Jackson followed with another three 50 seconds later to put the Lobos on top by one, 36-35 with 1:04 left in the half.

Jackson finished the half with a pair of free throws for the 38-35 lead at the break.
 


The Lobos extended their run throughout the first minute of the second half with another Manigault layup and a Mathis three for their largest lead of the game, eight, 43-35. The triple capped a 21-5 run before Fresno State battled back with a 12-0 run to get ahead by four at the 16:27 mark, 47-43.

UNM would battle back and tie it 49-49 and neither team led by more than five until Fresno State got on top by six, 67-61 with seven minutes left. 

The Lobos brought it within one just once more, 71-70 Bulldogs, on a Jackson layup, but Fresno State finished on a 10-3 run for the final.

Both squads posted runs of 12-0 in the game and held their largest leads of eight in the contest that saw seven lead changes. 

Overall, UNM outrebounded Fresno State 40-33 and outscored the Bulldogs in the paint 22-20. Fresno State was whistled for 26 fouls that led to 28 points for UNM from the stripe compared to just 18 fouls for the Lobos, 17 points from the stripe for Fresno State.

UNM is set to return to action on Wednesday, February 20 when the Lobos travel to Utah State for a 9 p.m. MT contest on ESPNU.