Three Lobos Hit 20 in 29-Point Win Over Wyoming
BOX SCORE (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY | POST-GAME NOTES | POST-GAME QUOTES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — On the back of a trio of players to rack up 20 points, The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team rebounded from its recent three-game skid with a 29-point victory, 97-68, over the visiting Wyoming Cowboys on Saturday evening inside Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit. The win improves the Lobos’ home record to 14-1 and marks head coach Paul Weir’s 50th victory at the helm of the Lobos.
Win the win, UNM improves to 17-8 on the season (6-6 MW) while Wyoming falls to 6-19, 1-12 MW. The contest marks the first time since Dec. 22 that UNM has registered at least 90 points and is the seventh time UNM has done so this season after starting the 2019-20 campaign with four straight games scoring 90 or more.
Senior Corey Manigault posted a career-high 28 points to lead UNM along with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Manigault’s points included a 10-for-11 mark from the free throw line. He was joined in the 20-point club by redshirt-junior Zane Martin who collected a UNM career-high-tying 23 points, as well as redshirt-junior Vance Jackson who scored 20 while going 6-for-8 from 3-point range. Six threes ties Jackson’s UNM career high.
In his first game back on the court after missing the last four to injury, Jackson scored just three points in the first half before draining 17 points in the second on the way to his third 20-point game of the season. He registered 14 straight Lobo points within 2:52 to take the Lobos from an 18-point advantage to a 24-point lead with 7:27 left to play.
UNM entered the halftime break with an 11-point lead after Martin went on a 5-0 run to claim the momentum for the Lobos with just under 2:30 left in the half. Leading by five, Martin hit a three and then collected his second steal of the game just four seconds later and drove for the dunk to put UNM up by 10 at the 2:27 mark.
When the Lobos came out of the locker room at the half however, it looked like Wyoming might take the momentum away. After UNM held Cowboy leading-scorer Hunter Maldonado to nine points in the first half, the redshirt-sophomore scored six of Wyoming’s first 10 points ouf of the break and the Cowboys opened with a 12-8 advantage to reduce the Lobo lead to seven with 15:47 to play.
The Lobos followed by scoring five straight, on a layup from redshirt-junior Keith McGee, who was UNM’s fourth Lobo in double figures on the night with 13 points, and a three from Manigault. The back-to-back points put UNM back up by 12.
Jackson’s run just over four minutes later put UNM back on top by 24. Jackson’s final three in his 14-point run sparked a Lobo 8-2 run that included a Manigault three-steal-dunk combo to give UNM its largest lead of the game, 29 points, 84-55. Wyoming was able to get as close as 25 points before the eventual, 29-point final score.
The final Lobo score was punctuated by an emphatic dunk from McGee, igniting Lobo fans and the Lobo bench, with just 21 seconds left.
The Lobos had NINE dunks tonight against Wyoming, here is the clincher from McGee… that bench tho! #TeamSupport #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/SaWKR1nC44
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) February 9, 2020
The dunk was the last of nine on the night including three from McGee, four from Manigault, one from Martin and one from freshman Emmanuel Kuac.
On the evening, UNM outrebounded Wyoming 46-27 marking the highest Lobo rebound margin of the season, 19. The Lobos also outshot the Cowboys 50.7 – 42.9 percent from the floor and 41.4 – 19.0 percent from 3-point range. UNM registered 12 threes on the evening marking just the fifth time this season that the Lobos have registered 10 or more from deep, the fourth time in the last six contests.
The Lobos are set to return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 11 as they travel to still-undefeated No. 4 San Diego State for a 9 p.m. MT contest in San Diego on ESPN2.