New Mexico Posts 87-67 Victory Over Denver
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team recorded its sixth victory of the season with a wire-to-wire 87-67 win over Denver on Thursday night at The Pit. The Lobos (6-4) matched their win total from the previous season by defeating the Pioneers (3-8) for their fifth home win of the year.
K.J. Jenkins scored all of his season-high 21 points in the second half to lead the Lobos while Gethro Muscadin had 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his second career double-double. Jamal Mashburn, Jr. added 10 points and Jay Allen-Tovar posted 10 rebounds on the night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos used a strong defensive start to take an early 12-6 lead over the first eight minutes of the game. A 14-2 New Mexico run pushed the advantage to 29-13 with 5:20 to play in the half, UNM’s largest lead of the half. The Pioneers got within 11 points before the Lobos took a 41-27 lead into halftime as Jaelen House led UNM with nine first-half points.
In the second half, the Pioneers scored the first four points to get within ten at 41-31 before the Lobos pushed the lead back to 16 with a 6-0 run. New Mexico would push the lead to 66-39 at the midway point of the half with an 8-0 run. Denver would cut the lead to 14 at 73-59 with 4:30 to play before the Lobos closed out the 87-67 victory.
Forsling with his first SLAM DUNK as a Lobo!
Lobos 33 | Denver 20 #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/F8om45sQHs
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) December 10, 2021
LOBO NOTES
• New Mexico improved to 6-0 this season when scoring at least 80 points
• Jenkins had his second 20-point game of the season and scored in double figures for the fourth time
• Mashburn has scored in double figures in 12 consecutive games, dating back to last season at Minnesota
• Mashburn became the first Lobo to score in double figures in each of the first 10 games of the season since Kendall Williams in 2013-14
• Muscadin scored double figures for the fifth time this season (UNM is 5-0 in those games)
• Muscadin grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to post his second career double-double
• Sebastian Forsling made his first appearance in five games, scoring a career-high seven points
• Denver’s 27 first half points tied a season low by a UNM opponent (Western New Mexico, New Mexico State-home)
• December 9 is the earliest date on the calendar that the Lobos have matched their previous year’s win total (previous record was Dec. 10, set in 1943-44 when UNM matched its previous season’s win total with its third victory of the season)
QUOTABLE
“Obviously, it was good to bounce back after such a dramatic loss. To get a win by 20 at home was great. I was concerned with how we would be mentally going into this game. I was happy to get Sebastian some time, happy to get Jay Allen-Tovar some time and get KJ Jenkins back in a rhythm. It was a good win, but we got to get better because we have a tough one on Sunday.” – Head Coach Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos’ six-game homestand continues on Sunday with a matchup with UTEP. Game time at The Pit is 1 p.m. New Mexico has won the last three times the teams have met at The Pit, most recently an 84-78 win in 2018-19.