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Second Half Run Falls Short, Lobos Downed at Nevada

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RENO, Nev. — A late 13-0 run by The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team (16-6, 5-4 MW) fell short on Saturday evening as the Lobos dropped a 96-74 final on the road against Nevada (13-8, 6-3 MW), which entered the contest tied with UNM for third in the Mountain West standings. The Lobos were led by redshirt-junior Zane Martin who collected a season-high 23 points to go along with four assists and three rebounds.

UNM fell behind early and went into the halftime break down by its second-largest halftime deficit of the season, 20 points (49-29), but came out shooting in the second half. The Lobos were outscored by just two points, 47-45 in the second half.

UNM entered the second half outshot by the Wolf Pack 56.3 percent (18-32) to 37.9 percent (11-29) including 56.3 – 20.0 percent from behind the arc in the first. The Lobos rebounded in the final 20 minutes however, going 46.9 percent from the floor (15-32) and 57.1 percent from 3-point range, hitting eight of their 10 3-pointers in the second half.

The game marked just the third time this season that UNM has made 10 threes.

Down by 20 at the start of the half, Nevada extended its advantage to 25 in the first 2:40 (57-32) before back-to-back threes from redshirt-junior Keith McGee and sophomore Tavian Percy cut the deficit back to 19.

The momentum couldn’t quite take off and Nevada went back to piling on points however, making it a 28-point game with 8:54 left on a dunk from freshman K.J. Hymes to cap an 11-4 run.

It was at that point that Lobo head coach Paul Weir called a timeout, after which UNM posted its best scoring run of the game, 13-0, sparked by back-to-back threes from redshirt-sophomore Vante Hendrix and McGee. Hendrix made four free throws and McGee netted another three to make it a 15-point game and for a brief moment, it looked like the Lobos had gotten themselves back in the game with 5:48 left on the clock. 

The hope was short lived however as the Nevada called a timeout and closed the game out 14-7 for the 96-74 final.

Not only did Martin lead all scorers on the floor on the night, but he scored 14 straight points for the Lobos leading up to halftime.

Martin was one of four Lobos to score in double figures, followed by Hendrix with a career-high 19. Martin and Hendrix both went 3-for-7 from behind the arc while Martin was 8-for-19 from the floor and Hendrix went 6-for-12 including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Senior Corey Manigault registered 13 points and five rebounds while McGee collected 11 points and a trio of assists.

The Lobos dressed just 10 players on the night, nine of which saw the court on Saturday, compared to a field of 11 for the Wolf Pack. The short Lobo bench required its starters to play 26 minutes or more while McGee came off the bench going 3-for-4 from 3-point range in 26 minutes. He was a perfect 3-for-3 from deep in the second half.

The Wolf Pack was led by senior Nisré Zouzoua who scored 20 points as one of six members of the Wolf Pack to register double figures. The game marked the second time in four games that a UNM opponent has had six players in double digits.

Nevada’s Johncarlos Reyes finished with the only double-double on the floor with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Overall on the night, Nevada fired at an outstanding clip of 48.6 percent from three compared to 41.7 percent for UNM, racking up 17 from behind the arc. The short Lobo bench was outrebounded 50-26 though UNM did well controlling the ball, turning it over just seven times compared to 11 for Nevada.

Current Nevada head coach and former Lobo head coach Steve Alford collected his 600th career victory on the night, 155 of which were at UNM, while Weir was looking for his 50th at the helm of the Lobos.

UNM is set to return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 29 inside Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit when it hosts No. 4 San Diego State at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The last time the Lobos hosted an undefeated,  top-10 opponent, UNM came away with an exciting 85-58 victory over then undefeated No. 5/6 Nevada.