FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Behind the fourth straight 20-point game from senior Makuach Maluach, the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team fell in style to Colorado State, 87-73, in its last contest of the regular season on Wednesday night. The Lobos racked up the second-most points against a D1 squad this season while four of the 10 Lobos to see the court were walkons.
While Maluach, who moved into 17th in UNM scoring history on the night, went 7-for-16 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line with a triple and eight rebounds, it was the walkons that stole the show. Prior to Wednesday’s game, the foursome had combined for just 75 points this season.
Freshman Eloy Medina registered his first collegiate points and debuted his sharp-shooting skills to Lobo fans, going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, while sophomore Logan Padgett went 3-for-4 from the floor including 1-for-2 from deep. Medina entered the game with six minutes on the season and collected almost nine on the floor Wednesday.
With the loss, the Lobos fall to 6-15, 2-15 MW, while Colorado State improves to 17-4, 14-3 MW.
Colorado State got out to a quick lead on an 11-2 run that caused Lobo head coach Paul Weir to call a timeout.
New Mexico continued battling to make it an eight point game, 18-10 before sophomore Emmanuel Kuac slammed down the alley-oop, assisted by Maluach, to cause CSU to take its first timeout.
Despite the break in play, the Lobos built on the momentum and went on a 12-2 run to tie the game 20-20.
Colorado State responded with a 21-4 run to reclaim a significant advantage, 41-22, en route to a 47-31 halftime score.
At the break, CSU’s Adam Thistlewood had registered 17 of the Rams’ 47 points going 7-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-4 from 3-point land.
The Lobos would get no closer than 14 the rest of the way.
Colorado State dominated in the paint and on the boards as the Rams outscored the Lobos 46-30 in the paint and outrebounded 45-30.
New Mexico posted 20 assists for just the fourth time this season and kept the turnovers under 10 with eight, marking just the third time this season the Lobos have kept turnovers under 10. UNM scored 14 points off of CSU’s 13 turnovers while CSU was able to get just six.
Wednesday’s game marked the final contest of the regular season. The Lobos will await seeding information to determine the date and time of its next contest. The 2021 Mountain West Tournament is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, March 10.