Open Announce

Lobos Fall at Colorado in Road Opener 87-76

by Steve Kirkland

BOULDER, Colo. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered an 87-76 loss at Colorado Saturday in its road opener. The Lobos (1-1) trailed by just three with two minutes to play before the Buffaloes (2-0) were able to seal the win in the final minutes.

Jaelen House led the Lobos with 22 points, while Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored a career-high 20 points. Taryn Todd scored a career-high 12 points and Javonte Johnson matched a career high with 10 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The game remained close early with neither team leading by more than four points over the first 12 minutes of action. Colorado opened up a 27-19 lead with just under 7:00 to play in the half before the Lobos rallied to draw even at 31-31 with 3:30 to go. The Buffaloes used a late 8-0 run to take a 42-36 advantage at halftime.

Early in the second half the Lobos drew within one point before the Buffaloes pushed the lead back to seven points. The Lobos continued to fight back and drew even at 52-52 with 13:44 to play. Midway through the second half, Colorado pushed its lead to 70-62 with 5:30 to go. The Lobos got as close as three after a Mashburn layup-and-one with 2:06 to play, but the Buffaloes were able to close out the 87-76 victory.

LOBO NOTES
• The Lobos had two 20-point scorers for the first time since the 2020 Mountain West Tournament vs. San Jose State
• Gethro Muscadin made his first career start
• Sebastian Forsling scored his first career points on a layup early in the first half and finished with four points
• Todd had his third career double figure game, his first as a Lobo (had two last season at TCU)
• Todd had seven steals, the most by a Lobo in a game since 2003-04 (Danny Granger had eight vs. Penn State)
• Jaelen House has scored in double figures in all four halves of the season
• Johnson had his second career double-figure game
• Jordan Arroyo made his season debut and played six minutes, his most since 2019-20

QUOTABLE
“It was a three-point game with two minutes to go, so we were right there. I don’t want say we self-destructed because that takes away from Colorado, and they are a really good team. We have a collection of guys that have no idea how to win. It is to be expected. We don’t have a lot of guys who have tasted success. We are young and sometimes not handling adversity is part of that. We just haven’t been through the wars together. If we learn from this, it could be very beneficial because there are guys who have not had big roles on teams who are now getting that chance.” – Head Coach Richard Pitino

UP NEXT
The Lobos begin a three-game homestand on Monday as they host Grambling State at 7 p.m. at The Pit. The game is Save the Planet Day and the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free Lobo reusable water bottle, compliments of the Albuquerque Water Authority.