Open Announce

Lobos Cap Unbeaten Non-Conference Slate with 82-75 win Over Oral Roberts

by Steve Kirkland

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team completed an undefeated non-conference schedule with an 82-75 win over Summit League favorite Oral Roberts on Monday night in The Pit. The Lobos (15-2, 2-2 MW) went 13-0 in the non-conference, their fourth perfect non-conference season, while snapping the Golden Eagles’ (13-4, 4-0 Summit) 10-game win streak.

Jamal Mashburn, Jr. matched a season high with 24 points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds to lead New Mexico. Josiah Allick and Morris Udeze became the first pair of Lobos in over two seasons to record double-doubles in the same game, with Allick having 15 points and 13 rebounds and Udeze having 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jaelen House added 15 points, five assists and three steals.

The game was scheduled two weeks ago as a replacement for one of the two cancelled games with New Mexico State.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos got out to a quick start and led 9-3 after two-and-a-half minutes, but ORU rallied to take a  13-11 lead with 14:45 to play in the half. The Golden Eagles led until a fastbreak layup from Allick gave the Lobos a 22-20 lead with 11:10 to play. UNM would go on an 11-0 run to push the lead to 34-24 with 6:00 to go. The teams cooled off offensively late in the half with UNM leading 40-31 with 2:00 to play before taking a 43-35 lead into halftime. Mashburn had 13 points to lead the Lobos in the first half.

In the second half, the teams would trade baskets early with UNM holding a 51-44 lead after four minutes. The Lobos pushed their lead to as many as 11 over the opening eight minutes before holding a 63-55 edge at the midway point. An 8-0 run, capped by triples by Mashburn and Jenkins gave UNM a 72-57 lead with 8:00 to play. ORU would close the gap to 73-67 with 2:30 left as the Lobos went nearly seven minutes without a field goal. A Mashburn layup would snap the drought, but the Golden Eagles could not get closer than five in the final minute as UNM sealed the win at the foul line.



LOBO NOTES

• The Lobos also had undefeated non-conference seasons in 1995-96 (10-0), 1972-73 (12-0) and 1933-34 (10-0), not including the 2020-21 COVID-shortened season (4-0 with two non-DI wins)
• 13 non-conference wins are the most by the Lobos since 2012-13 (13-2 record)
• KJ Jenkins got his first start of the season, replacing Javonte Johnson, who missed the game due to injury
• Mashburn scored in double figures for the 38th consecutive game, the longest active streak in the Mountain West and second-longest active streak in the nation

QUOTABLE
“It is great to be 13-0 in the non-conference, so we continue, early in this rebuild, to do some amazing things. I was very concerned with this game. We are lucky and grateful that our administration was able to work with us and help us add San Francisco and add Oral Roberts. We wanted to try and find a quality win and we played with fire a little bit with both of them. We needed to have a mature bounce-back from the UNLV game. I don’t think we are playing poorly. We could have won Fresno State and UNLV. We were in both games, they made some plays and we didn’t. We had to find a way to get a win tonight. We are 15-2, and I’m really proud of them.” – Richard Pitino

UP NEXT
The Lobos return to Mountain West action on Saturday with a visit to No. 23 San Diego State. Game time at Viejas Arena is 7 p.m. MT (6 p.m. PT) and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.