Bragg Goes 20/20, Mathis Ties Record, UNM Falls at Wyoming
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Despite falling on the road at Wyoming on Saturday evening by a score of 88-81, Redshirt-junior Carlton Bragg became the first Lobo to rack up 20 rebounds since 2012 and senior Anthony Mathis tied a UNM program record 102 3-pointers.
Bragg led UNM with 22 points and 20 rebounds while Mathis’ 102nd 3-pointer of the season ties the overall program record for most threes in a single season which has stood since the 1998-99 season when Kevin Henry collected 102.
The last time a Lobo registered at least 20 points and 20 rebounds was on Feb. 18, 2012 when Drew Gordon hit 27 points and posted 20 boards in a 65-45 win over UNLV in The Pit.
With the loss, the Lobos’ final regular-season record is 13-17, 7-11 MW. Following the conclusion of play across the league on Saturday, UNM is slated to be the seventh seed in the 2019 Mountain West Championships, taking on 10th-seed Wyoming (7-23, 3-14 MW) on Wednesday in the first round in Las Vegas, Nev. at 1:30 p.m. PT / 2:30 p.m. MT.
“As hurtful as this loss may be, part of the tip of the cap is that Wyoming played terrific,” head coach Paul Weir said. “I thought they were exceptional, you have to give credit. Hunter Thompson … A.J. Banks – those guys were great players tonight and quite frankly we didn’t respond to that, we didn’t match that.”
Wyoming took a small lead early after the Cowboys’ Senior Night celebration prior to tipoff seemed to ignite a spark in the squad, specifically in senior and leading scorer Justin James. James scored the first five straight points to get Wyoming out to a 5-0 lead on a jumper and a three within 42 seconds. The Lobos followed with a 5-0 run from Bragg on a jumper, a layup and a free throw to make it 5-5 for the first tie of the game.
The squads went on to tie the score five times in the contest that saw four lead changes.
Wyoming slowly got out by as many as 10 points, 34-24, with 6:35 remaining in the first half before the Lobos went on a 10-0 run over 2:05 sparked by a jumper from sophomore Makuach Maluach. The run tied the matchup 34-34 and included a pair of free throws for Mathis and a triple from senior Dane Kuiper before Mathis capped the run with his first three of the night.
It’s a 10-0 run and the Lobos have tied it back up 34-34 off of a THREE from Mathis! Mathis needs one more three to tie the UNM record for threes in a single season (102). #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/1PhuqPGXBj
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) March 9, 2019
The teams knotted the score again at 36-36 with 3:32 left in the half and James followed with a three to put the Cowboys back up by three. Redshirt-sophomore Vance Jackson followed with a dunk and a steal before Maluach drained a three to give UNM its first lead of the game, 41-39 with 2:28 left in the first half.
Jackson finished the game with 13 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.
The Lobos looked to be headed into the break with a two-point advantage, but with seven seconds left on the clock, Banks hit a three and UNM went into the locker room down one, 42-41.
Both James and Bragg stood out in the first half as James collected 20 points shooting 8-for-17 from the floor and 3-for-6 from behind the arc. Bragg went into the locker room with his third double-double of the season after scoring 11 points on 5-for-6 from the field and 10 rebounds.
Bragg scored 11 more points in the second half while James was limited to just eight.
The Lobos opened the second half with a layup from Jackson, assisted by Bragg, to make it 43-42 in favor of UNM. The teams traded shots and ultimately tied the game for the fifth and final time with 18:57 on the clock at 45-45 on another layup by Bragg, this time assisted by Jackson.
UNM trailed by just four with 9:57 left, 64-60, after a Bragg dunk, but Wyoming responded with a dunk of its own and proceeded on a 6-0 run to again make it a 10-point game.
The Lobos started fouling to stop the clock with 1:38 left and down by six (77-71) but Wyoming went 11-1 from the stripe down the stretch to hold off UNM en route to the eventual seven-point final, 88-81.
The teams combined for 46 fouls on the night with Mathis fouling out and Bragg and McGee each collecting four while the Cowboys had three players in foul trouble with four.
Wyoming was led by five players to score in double figures including James (28), Banks (20), Thompson (14), Jake Hendricks (11) and Jordan Naughton (10).
The Lobos were led by Bragg (22), Maluach (18), Jackson (13) and Mathis (12).
On the night, UNM was outshot 51.9 – 40.0 percent from the floor and 40.0 – 37.5 percent from 3-point range. The Cowboys also went 82.8 percent from the stripe (24-29) compared to 69.0 percent for the Lobos (20-29). UNM did however, outrebound the Cowboys 42-30 marking the fourth straight game that the Lobos have collected more boards.
New Mexico is set to return to action on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. PT / 2:30 p.m. MT in Las Vegas, Nev. as it takes on Wyoming in the first round.