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Lobo Underclassmen Shine Despite Loss to #4 SDSU

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — With four starters down on a previously 15-man roster, underclassmen on The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team had the chance to prove themselves on the court on Wednesday evening, posting career-nights against the only undefeated team left in the country in nationally-ranked, No. 4 San Diego State.

The 85-57 loss ends UNM’s 13-0 undefeated streak in The Pit and evens the Lobos’ conference record at 5-5, 16-7 on the season. San Diego State remains undefeated and improves to 22-0, 11-0 Mountain West.

Six of the 10 Lobos to see action on the court Wednesday were underclassmen and combined for 94 of the 200 Lobo minutes on the night. 

While UNM was led offensively by senior Corey Manigault with a team-best 12 points, Manigault scored all of his points in the first half, seeing just four minutes in the second. Redshirt junior Keith McGee, who registered his first start of the season, followed with 10 points including a pair of 3-pointers accounting for half of the Lobos’ total from deep.

Sophomore Jordan Arroyo saw his best career game against the Aztecs, racking up a career-high seven rebounds in a career-most 21 minutes against a team that featured a duo of 6-10 seniors to go along with a 6-10 sophomore. UNM was outrebounded by just three on the night, 36-33.

Freshman Emmanuel Kuac was also a bright spot on the night, tying his career-most 13 minutes on the court while going 3-for-5 from the floor for six points and three rebounds, tied for his career high. With the game already out of hand at 74-43 with 7:44 left, redshirt junior Zane Martin, who collected a a team-high three assists, tossed the ball up over the hoop where Kuac one-handed it into a dunk.

San Diego State was led by five players in double figures including senior KJ Feagin who went 6-for-9 from 3-point range for 18 points, tying his career-most made threes in a game. Feagin entered the game averaging just 7.5 points on the season, 7.2 points per game in MW play.

SDSU junior Jordan Schakel nearly finished as the only player on the night with a double-double, registering 11 points and nine rebounds.

On the night, SDSU collected 17 fouls to just 11 for the Lobos finishing the first half 10-4 in favor of UNM. Despite getting into the double bonus early, UNM was still down by as many as 23 points in the first half with just 42 seconds left to play.

SDSU outshot UNM 58.2 – 33.8 percent from the floor and 45.5 – 17.4 percent from 3-point range.

The Aztecs got out to a quick 17-point lead on a 17-0 run that extended to the 15:16 mark before a jumper from Manigault ended the Lobo scoring drought. UNM never got the game back to single digits.

UNM’s best scoring run of the game, 8-0, came in the final 4:34 and was sparked by a triple from McGee to reduce the deficit from 33 points to 30. It was followed by a jumper from freshman Kurt Wegscheider and capped by another McGee three to make it a 25-point game for the first time since the 17:05 mark.SDSU closed the game 5-2, with the two points coming on another Kuac dunk with 1:11 left.

The Lobos are set to return to action on Saturday, Feb. 1, when they travel to Fresno State to take on the Bulldogs at 3 p.m. MT on AT&T SportsNet.