HOUSTON, Texas — In the battle of Patterson Brother vs Patterson brother on Tuesday night, Lobo junior Clay Patterson registered his first career 3-pointer against his brother’s team as the UNM men’s basketball team routed NAIA Our Lady of the Lake, 104-65. The Saints entered the game coming off of an upset over NCAA DI Texas State and drained 10 from behind the arc as a team, but they were no match for the Lobos’ 59.7 percent shooting from the floor.
With the win, UNM is now 2-0 on the season while the Saints, which competed in exhibition play Tuesday, remain 1-1.
All 16 members of the Lobo squad in attendance entered the game on Tuesday including UNM debuts for sophomore Logan Padgett, redshirt-freshman Daniel Headdings and freshmen Isaiah Marin, Nolan Dorsey and Eloy Medina.
The Lobos hit 100 points for the eighth time in head coach Paul Weir’s tenure and now average 88.0 points on the season, second in the Mountain West behind Colorado State (90.0).
The Saints got out to their largest and only lead of the game two minutes in with a 9-5 advantage on a three by junior Ruben Monzon. The Lobos followed with a 13-0 run to make it a nine-point game, 18-9, and the Saints came marching back to cut it to five, 28-23, with 8:37 left in the first half. UNM immediately exploded for a 15-0 run to take a 20-point lead, 43-23, and never looked back as the game never closed to less than double digits again.
Maluach to McGee with the MOVES! Lobos lead 36-23 with just over 6 mins left in the first half. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/3bvR4e8HBf
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) December 16, 2020
Four Lobos scored in double figures on the night including senior Makuach Maluach who led the squad with 17 points and finished just one point shy of 1,000 career points. OLLU was led by Ethan White who scored 25 points on 8-for-13 from the floor including three 3-pointers and also a 6-for-7 mark from the line.
Lobo newcomer Saquan Singleton registered his first double-double as a Lobo with 13 points and 10 rebounds while junior Rod Brown registered 16 points and junior Valdir Manuel collected 11, both for their first double-digit game as a Lobo.
The Lobos collected 48 rebounds on the night nearly matching their opening total of 49 on Sunday. UNM outrebounded 48-21 including 14 offensive boards and boasts the highest rebound average in the Mountain West with 48.5.
The Lobos scored 52 points in each half for their 104-point total. The last time UNM scored 50 points in the first half was on Dec. 30, 2018 against University of the Southwest and on Feb. 8, 2020, UNM registered 57 points in the second half against Wyoming.
The last time UNM scored 100 points was on Dec. 22, 2019 against Houston Baptist.
The Lobos dominated in the paint with 54 points to OLLU’s 20 while 53 points came off of the UNM bench. New Mexico led for 36:15.
UNM is set to return to action on Thursday, Dec. 17 against LeTourneau University in neutral competition at Rice. LeTourneau also competed Tuesday and came away with a 100-63 victory over Howard Payne University.