Comeback, Jackson Lead Lobos to MW Quarterfinals
BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY | POST-GAME NOTES | UNM POST-GAME QUOTES | WYO POST-GAME QUOTES
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team executed its fifth-biggest comeback in program history on Wednesday afternoon against the 10th-seeded Wyoming Cowboys to advance to the 2019 Air Force Reserve MW Championship Quarterfinals Thursday. Redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson led the Lobos with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists while scoring 13 straight points in UNM’s comeback run.
The Lobos were down by as many as 16 points before claiming a 10-point win, 78-68, after a 51-point second half. Fifty-one points ties for the fifth-most points in a half in tournament history. The last team to do so was New Mexico against UNLV on March 7, 2002. The contest also marks the first time this season that the Lobos have overcome a double-digit halftime deficit.
“I thought they gave us a tremendous blow early and pushed us really to the point of elimination,” head coach Paul Weir said. “Thankfully we were able to kind of bounce back, finish the game we wanted and get a victory to move on.”
Senior Anthony Mathis also made history on the night registering his 103rd 3-pointer of the season, breaking the UNM program-record 102 set in 1998-99 by Kevin Henry. His total also ranks fifth-most in Mountain West history.
Mathis hits a THREE to officially BREAK the UNM record for most 3-pointers in a single season with 103! #GoLobos @UNMLoboMBB pic.twitter.com/nGeXuTShtq
— New Mexico Lobos (@UNMLOBOS) March 13, 2019
The Lobos will take on No. 2-seed Utah State on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network in the Thomas & Mack Center.
In a slow offensive start for the Lobos, the Cowboys got in front by 16 points with 2:32 left in the first half, a lead that UNM cut to 11 at the break after five straight points on a pair of Mathis free throws and a three from sophomore Makuach Maluach as the clock wound down, 38-27.
The Lobos came out of the half with a quick five points with a palpable new energy and despite a Wyoming layup in between, UNM made it an eight-point game with 19:12 left to play.
Over the next 4:23, UNM got the game down to six with a pair of free throws from Maluach, but the Cowboys went on a 7-0 run to get back in front by 13. That’s when the Lobos started to take control.
Down 47-34 with 14:49 left on the clock the Lobos, who have struggled this year in coming back from deficits, went on an impressive 15-0 run to get out to a two-point lead, the first of the game.
The run started with a layup from redshirt-junior Carlton Bragg and Jackson proceeded to score 13 straight points kicked off by his own steal and layup at the 12:46 mark. Jackson hit a pair of threes, two layups, a jumper and a free throw within 2:59 to energize the Lobos and make the crowd in the “Pit West” roar. His go-ahead three came at the 9:47 mark, 49-47, and a layup by Wyoming leading scorer Justin James tied it at 49-49 with 9:20 on the clock.
The Lobos extended the run to 22-3 over the next minute to get out to a six-point lead, 56-50. The end of the run included a steal and a big dunk from Jackson as well as a pair of free throws from the sophomore.
Let’s check that steal/dunk on replay… #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/DH3uqLDiKI
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) March 13, 2019
Wyoming threatened with 3:24 left as it reduced the Lobo lead back to one on a dunk from Cowboy senior Jordan Naughton, 62-61. The Lobos followed it up however with an 8-0 run that included a pair of decisive, back-to-back Maluach dunks to make it 70-61 with 1:34 left.
ICYMI: Here’s a look at Makuach Maluach’s MONSTER dunks in the final three minutes of today’s MW First Round victory! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/nI4oiqyGTm
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) March 14, 2019
UNM closed the contest on a 16-7 run for the eventual 10-point win, 78-68. The Lobos were led by four players to score in double figures including Jackson (26), Maluach (13), redshirt-sophomore Keith McGee (12) and Bragg (10). Jackson went a career-high 8-for-15 from the floor, 3-for-7 from behind the arc and 7-for-10 from the free throw line on the afternoon.
Wyoming was led by James who scored 31 points going 8-for-19 from the floor, 4-for-7 from 3-point range and 11-for-16 behind the arc.
On the evening, the Lobos were outshot by the Cowboys from the floor (38.2 – 35.9 percent) and from behind the arc (36.4 – 25.0 percent) but went 25-for-35 from the stripe for 71.4 percent to 66.7 for Wyoming.
The Lobos forced 16 turnovers of the Cowboys while turning the ball over just 11 times and outscored Wyoming 51-30 in the second half.
UNM returns to action on Thursday, March 14 as it takes on No. 2-seed Utah State at 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT in the 2019 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Championship Quarterfinals.