Lobos Suffer 71-55 Loss at San José State
SAN JOSE, CALIF. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team opened a two-game road trip with a 71-55 loss at San José State on Sunday afternoon. The Lobos (11-16, 3-10) allowed the Spartans (8-19, 1-14) to take control in the second half as they shot 74.1 percent (20-27) from the floor after halftime, the highest shooting half by a UNM opponent since 2011.
Jamal Mashburn, Jr. led New Mexico with 17 points while Jaelen House had 14 points and Jay Allen-Tovar added 11 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
San José State jumped out to an early 5-0 lead over the first three minutes of the game and held an 11-7 lead after eight minutes as the Lobos made just 2-of-13 field goals to open the game. UNM took its first lead with an 10-0 run to make the score 17-11 at the under-8:00 timeout. The Spartans tied the game at 19-19 with 4:00 to go before the game went to the break tied at 25-25. House had eight first half points to lead New Mexico.
In the second half, the Spartans used a 6-0 run to take a 36-30 lead with 16:10 to play. A 6-0 Lobo run, started by a pair of dunks from Allen-Tovar, gave UNM the lead again at 39-38 with 14:00 to play. The Spartans took a 49-42 lead with 11:45 to play as they made 11-of-13 field goals to open the half and led 53-47 at the midway point. San José State opened up a 60-49 lead with 7:00 to go and led 66-55 at the final media timeout with 2:33 to go. The Spartans closed out the 71-55 win as they held the Lobos scoreless over the final 3:57 of the contest.
LOBO NOTES
• Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored in double figures for the 16th game and the 26th time in 27 games this season
• Jaelen House scored in double figures for the 19th time this season
• Jay Allen-Tovar scored in double figures for the fifth straight game and the 12th time this season
• San Jose State’s 74.1 percent shooting in the second half was the highest by a UNM opponent since Alabama shot 75.0 percent (15-20) in the second half of a 2011 NIT game in Tuscaloosa
• New Mexico’s 28.6 field goal percentage in the first half was its second-lowest half of a season (28.0 in second half at UNLV)
• Omari Moore (18 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) had the first triple-double by a UNM opponent since UNLV’s Marvin Coleman in 2020
QUOTABLE
“We didn’t do anything well in the second half. We didn’t move the ball offensively, which led to a lot of bad shots. We didn’t stick to the scouting report. We had to do three different ball screen coverages because nothing was working. Give them credit as well. They played hard and competed, and they are good when they are in rhythm offensively. It was an unfortunate step back for our guys, not because we lost, but our lack of playing the right way across the board.” – Head Coach Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos conclude the two-game road trip on Tuesday with a visit to Utah State. Game time in Logan is 8 p.m. and the game will air on FS1.