Lobos Drop MW Opener at Boise State

BOISE, Idaho — The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team dropped its first Mountain West contest of the season on Monday night by a score of 77-53 against Boise State, the team picked in the league’s preseason poll to finish second in the MW. The contest marks the first of a two-game series played across three days.

The Lobos (3-1, 0-1 MW), who have now played four games over a span of nine days, will get a second shot at the Broncos (5-1, 1-0 MW) on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network.

Overall, UNM was outshot 57.7-33.9 percent despite an even 33.3 percent (5-15) shooting from behind the arc for both teams. The Lobos, who entered the contest averaging 58.7 rebounds per game, were also outrebounded 35-29 on the night.

The Lobos opened the game on a three from Maluach just 40 seconds in, but the Broncos quickly tied it up, took control and never looked back.

Boise State was up by 10 at the break, 36-26, after UNM had cut a nine-point game back to six. The Broncos ended the half on a dunk off of a fastbreak turnover at the 52-second mark followed by a layup with four seconds left on the clock.

A bright spot for the Lobos in the first half was redshirt-senior Keith McGee, who has been known as a 3-point specialist prior to this season, registered a pair of triples for UNM after having gone just 1-for-8 from behind the arc so far this season.

McGee’s fire was extinguished however when he left the game after just 11 minutes on the court due to injury. Maluach and McGee led the Lobos through the first half. Maluach posted seven points on 3-for-7 from the floor and a perfect 1-for-1 from three.

The Lobos tried to close the gap in the second half and even cut the score back to six, 40-34, on a layup from sophomore Kurt Wegscheider, who ultimately registered a career-high eight points on the night.

Six points was as close as UNM would get as Boise State then turned in a 25-5 run over 7:59 to take a commanding 65-39 lead with 6:37 left to play en route to the 24-point final.

Boise State was led by four players to score in double figures including 2020-21 Preseason All-MW Team selection and MW Preseason Player of the Year Alston who racked up 20 with six boards.

While Monday night marked the first game of the season that UNM did not have a player reach a double-double, senior Makuach Maluach did register his fourth straight game scoring in double figures.

Maluach, who has led UNM in scoring in three of its four games so far this season, also now posts 1,027 career points and ranks 30th in UNM program history. He surpassed former Lobo great Ira Harge (1,016) on Monday night.

The Lobos and the Broncos will face off once more on Wednesday at 8 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network.

Postgame Notes

• The Lobos lead the all-time series 12-7
• UNM is now 4-5 on the road in Boise
• Boise State has now won the last two matchups
• UNM and Boise State are 2-2 over the last four games

TEAM NOTES:

• Monday’s game marked the first of the season that UNM did not have a player reach a double-double
• Starters for the game included Francis, Singleton, Maluach, Brown and Matos- it was the fourth different lineup in as many games
• The Lobos continued to struggle at the free throw line, shooting just 52.6 percent from the stripe
• Both UNM and Boise State went 5-for-15 from behind the arc.
  • Two of those threes came from Lobo redshirt-senior Keith McGee who played just 11:22 before vacating the game to injury.
• UNM had 15 players on the court on the night compared to 11 for the Broncos.
  • The Lobos have put at least 15 players on the floor in the last three games (16 in each of the last two)
• The Lobos entered the game averaging 58.7 rebounds per game, but against league competition pulled down just 29 and were outrebounded by six.
• UNM was outshot 57.7-33.9 percent on the night.
• Monday night’s game marked the first Mountain West contest for 10 of UNM’s five players to see the court.
• The Lobos have now played four games in nine days and will make it five in 11 with Wednesday’s meeting with the Broncos.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

• With his 13 points, senior Makuach Maluach racked up his fourth straight game scoring in double figures.
  • He now posts 1,027 points and ranks 30th in UNM program history
    • He surpassed former Lobo great Ira Harge (1,016) on Monday night
• Maluach has now led the Lobos in scoring in three out of four games this season.
  • He has only led the Lobos in scoring 13 times in his career
    • Monday’s game was his 103rd career game
• Monday’s game marked Maluach’s 60th straight start
• Sophomore Kurt Wegscheider went 3-for-4 from the floor to finish second on the squad with eight points on the night
  • Eight points marks a new career-high for Wegscheider after he scored six twice last season
• Redshirt-freshman Daniel Headdings knocked down his first career 3-pointer on the night