Lobos Down UNLV 76-67 to Close Out Regular Season
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team concluded the regular season Saturday night with a 76-67 victory over UNLV at The Pit. The Lobos (13-18, 5-12) took control early and held off a second-half rally from the Runnin’ Rebels (18-13, 10-8).
Jaelen House had 27 points to lead New Mexico, while Jamal Mashburn, Jr. added 21 points. Saquan Singleton and KJ Jenkins each had nine points, while Jordan Arroyo came off the bench to grab a career-high seven rebounds on his senior night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mashburn got the Lobos started offensively, scoring the team’s first 10 points as UNM led 10-5 after five minutes of play. The Lobos pushed the lead to 19-13 at the halfway point of the half and used a 13-0 run to make the score 30-13 with 7:10 left in the half. The run became a 20-3 run as the Lobos led 37-16 with 5:00 to play in the half. UNLV got the deficit to 15 with a late 6-0 run before New Mexico took a 38-22 advantage into the break. Mashburn had 12 first-half points to lead the Lobos.
In the second half, the teams traded baskets early before the Lobos extended the lead to 46-26 at the first media timeout. A House basket-and-1 pushed the advantage to 21 points at 49-28 with 15:15 to play before 6-0 UNLV run cut the lead to 49-34 with 13:10 to go. A 12-1 Runnin’ Rebel run cut the lead to single digits at 54-46 at the midway point of the half. New Mexico led 60-53 with 6:00 to go and 62-56 at the final media timeout as UNLV continued to chip away at the lead. The Lobos led 66-62 with 2:00 to play before a House layup and a UNLV 3-pointer made the score 68-65 with 1:10 to go. UNM pushed the lead to seven with 20 seconds left with a House jumper and a pair of Mashburn free throws before closing out the 76-67 win.
The steal. The layup. AND THE FOUL!! Jaelen House into double figures!!@FS1 | #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/nNzWaugabc
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) March 6, 2022
LOBO NOTES
• Mashburn, Jr. scored in double figures for the 20th consecutive game and the 30th time in 31 games this season
• Mashburn had his 14th 20-point game this season, most by a Lobo since 2015-16 (Elijah Brown)
• Mashburn became the sixth Lobo to score 300 points in Mountain West play
• Jaelen House scored in double figures for the 21st time this season
• House had his eighth 20-point game of the season
• House reached the 500 point mark for the season, meaning the Lobos have two 500-point scorers in the same season for the 10th time in school history (last Elijah Brown and Tim Williams in 2015-16)
• After making his first five FTs of the night, House had his consecutive FT streak snapped at 42 consecutive makes, the second-longest streak in UNM history and the second-longest streak in Mountain West history
• House had three steals to bring his season total to 66, T-7th most in school history and the most by a Lobo since 1995-96
• Jordan Arroyo had a season-high three points, to go with a career-high tying seven rebounds and two blocks on his senior night
• The Lobos’ 16-point halftime lead was their largest against a Mountain West opponent since leading San Jose State by 16 at the break in the first round of the 2020 Mountain West Tournament
QUOTABLE
“Obviously it was a great win. UNLV had been playing very good basketball. I thought our defense and our rebounding, especially in the first half, was terrific. Offensively we were sharing the ball. I knew they would come back. When you have one of the best scorers in the country, we had to be ready to go and he (Bryce Hamilton) made some tough shots. I want to thank our fans who I thought willed us to victory.” – Head Coach Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos will be the No. 9 seed at next week’s Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas. They will open play at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday with a first-round matchup with No. 8 seed Nevada. Game time is noon MT (11 a.m. PT) and the game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network.