Lobos Drop Hard-Fought Battle at Wyoming, 93-91
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered a hard-fought loss, 93-91, at Wyoming on Saturday evening at the Arena-Auditorium. The Cowboys (15-2, 4-0) held off a second-half charge from the Lobos (7-12, 0-6) to remain unbeaten in Mountain West play.
Jay Allen-Tovar scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Lobos, while also grabbing six rebounds. Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored 22 points, while Jaelen House added 18 points and Javonte Johnson tallied 11 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a hot start offensively, with the Lobos leading 15-14 after six minutes of action. Allen-Tovar had nine of those first 15 points for UNM. The game was tied 22-22 at the midway point of the half before both teams cooled offensively. Wyoming opened up a 34-27 lead with 4:45 to play with a 7-0 run. The Cowboys led by as many an eight before taking a 41-34 lead into the break. Allen-Tovar had 12 first-half points to lead the Lobos.
In the second half, Wyoming pushed the lead to 10 early in the half, the Lobos used back-to-back triples from Allen-Tovar and Mashburn to close the gap to 51-47 with 14:45 to play. The Cowboys responded to push the lead to 65-58 at the midway point of the half. Back-to-back dunks by Mashburn sparked a 8-0 run to cut the lead to 69-68 with 6:40 to play. The Lobos were down 84-82 with 2:15 to play after a House layup and 87-85 after Jenkins was fouled on a three with 35.6 left. After the Cowboys made a pair of free throws, House’s pair from the line made it 89-87 with 28.0 left. However, the Lobos couldn’t get any closer and the Cowboys held on for the 93-91 win.
LOBO NOTES
• Jay Allen-Tovar scored in double figures for the fifth time this season
• Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored in double figures for the 18th time in 19 games this season
• Mashburn had his eighth 20-point game of the season
• Javonte Johnson scored in double figures for the ninth time this season
• Jaelen House scored in double figures for the 12th time this season
• The Lobos made at least 10 threes for the fourth time in six Mountain West games
QUOTABLE
“I thought we played way more under control. With our numbers, we have to slow it down a little and be more patient, and we got into a rhythm a little bit with that smaller lineup. I thought if we played poised, we could steal a high-scoring game here. We don’t have the personnel to match-up with a team like that quite yet. We are building something. I feel so good about where we are going. They have bought-in, they are coachable, they are scrapping and fighting. I hope our Lobo fans, I know it’s hard in a pandemic, but this team needs you. The next two are at home and I can’t wait to get back to The Pit.” – Head Coach Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos will return home to host Fresno State on Tuesday night at The Pit. Tip-off is 7:00 p.m. MT and the game will air on Stadium and the Lobo Radio Network.