Lobos Eliminated in Mountain West Quarterfinals
BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY | POST-GAME NOTES| POST-GAME QUOTES
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — In an exciting game that saw 16 ties and 19 lead changes, The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team fell to the second-seed Utah State Aggies in the 2019 Mountain West Quarterfinals on Thursday evening by a score of 91-83 in the final minutes to conclude the season. Redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson finished with a game-high 25 points to lead the Lobos.
The contest marks the second straight game Jackson has scored 20 points or more and his fifth straight scoring in double figures. He also racked up five assists and four rebounds on the night while finishing the last five games of his sophomore campaign shooting 17.6 points per game.
McGee with the steal and the outlet pass to Jackson. Jackson takes it all the way for an and-1! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/iBNfNXLVCy
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) March 15, 2019
The Lobos’ strong defensive pressure forced 24 turnovers on the night, a season-most for Utah State. Prior to Thursday night’s game, the Aggies were 0-2 when committing at least 20 turnovers and had not turned the ball over 23 times since Feb. 14, 2018 against UNM inside Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
The Lobos collected 12 steals on the night to tie for fifth-most in tournament history. The total marks the second most of the season for UNM after registering 13 against the University of the Southwest. The Lobos were led by senior Anthony Mathis in the category who collected a career-high five in his last game as a Lobo.
UNM came out hot to open the game with a defensive rebound and a fast layup from senior Dane Kuiper to set the tone for the first half. Neither team was able to get ahead by more than three points throughout the entirety of the first half while tying 10 times.
UNM was up by three with seven seconds left until Utah State’s Dwayne Brown Jr. hit a jumper and an and-1 to tie it at 39-39 at the break.
The Lobos came out of the half on a 13-5 run that included a pair of threes from Jackson and a pair of jumpers from Bragg, capped by a triple for Mathis to put the Lobos up by eight, 52-44, with 15:10 left.
The three was his first of the night as he finished with three to bring his final season total and the UNM program record to 106.
The Aggies whittled away at the Lobo lead over the next 3:27 to tie it for the 12th time at 57-57 with 11:43 left. UNM went up by four at the 9:49 mark, 65-61 on a pair of free throws from Kuiper, again on a jumper from redshirt-sophomore Keith McGee, 68-64, at the 8:22 mark and again with 6:27 left on an and-1 from junior Corey Manigault, 71-67.
Both teams continued the heartfelt battle until the final tie at 78-78 with 3:13 left when Utah State began to pull ahead. The Aggies made a free throw to get up by one and called a timeout, after which Diogo Brito hit a three to make it a four-point game, 82-78 in favor of the Aggies with 2:26 left.
Manigault hit a pair of free throws to bring the game back within two, but the Lobos would get no closer as Utah State would finish on a slow 9-3 run over the final 1:54 to clinch the victory.
The Lobos fought to the final minutes but it wasn’t enough en route to the eight-point final deficit. New Mexico led for 18:57 of the contest compared to 14:44 for Utah State. The score was tied for 6:19.
UNM was outshot 53.2 – 38.9 percent from the field and 46.2 – 34.5 percent from 3-point range. The Lobos did outshoot the Aggies from the stripe, however, going 81.0 percent to 77.8 percent, but Utah State made 35 free throws compared to 17 for UNM.
The Lobos capitalized on their opponent’s turnovers, scoring 22 points off of turnovers to just eight for Utah State. The Aggies are set to advance to the Semifinals where they will take on third-seed Fresno State on Friday.