ALBUQUERQUE, N.M – The New Mexico men’s basketball team opens the regular season Monday night as it hosts Southern Utah at The Pit. Game time is 7:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network and on the Lobo Radio Network.
Tickets for Monday’s season opener start at $15 and can be ordered online at GoLobos.com/tickets or at the University Arena Ticket Office.
The Lobos are led by returning All-Mountain West guards Jamal Mashburn, Jr. and Jaelen House, the third-highest returning duo in the nation at 35.1 combined points per game last season. UNM is coming off an 85-53 win over CSU Pueblo in their preseason finale with House scoring a game-high 20 points. New Mexico was picked fifth in the preseason Mountain West poll with Mashburn earning preseason all-conference honors.
Southern Utah is entering its first season in the WAC, after moving from the Big Sky. The Thunderbirds went 23-12 last season, reaching the semifinals of the Basketball Classic. SUU was picked ninth in the preseason WAC poll.
New Mexico is 89-30 all-time in season openers and has won 19 straight openers since a loss to Cal in the first game of the 2002-03 season. The Lobos are 50-5 in home openers in the Pit, having won their last 18 home openers since that same loss to Cal in 2002-03.
It will be the fifth all-time meeting between New Mexico and Southern Utah, all at The Pit, with the Lobos holding a 3-1 edge in the series. The teams last met in 2007-08, a 57-48 victory for UNM. The Thunderbirds’ lone win in the series came in 2002-03, a 69-57 win at The Pit.
Following Monday’s season opener, New Mexico will conclude its two-game season-opening homestand on Friday (Nov. 11) by hosting South Alabama.