Open Announce

Udeze’s Basket Lifts Lobos to 81-79 Overtime Win Over Boise State

by Steve Kirkland

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team won its fourth straight game, downing reigning Mountain West Champion Boise State 81-79 in overtime at The Pit on Friday night. The Lobos (18-2, 5-2 MW) used a basket from Morris Udeze in the final seconds to break the tie and snap the Broncos’ (15-5, 5-2 MW) five-game win streak.

Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored a season-high 25 points, his fourth straight 20-point game, to lead New Mexico. Jaelen House scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime, while Udeze finished with 15 points. Josiah Allick had eight points to go with a career-high 18 rebounds, the most by a Mountain West player this season. Donovan Dent had 10 points, three assists and three blocks off the bench.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The game opened with both teams starting slow offensively, with the game tied 2-2 after three minutes. Boise State would open a four-point lead at 14-10 with 10:50 left in the half before a 5-0 UNM run gave the Lobos the lead. The teams traded the lead for the next few minutes with the game tied at 27-27 with 4:00 left in the half. A late 8-0 Bronco run allowed them to take a 37-31 lead into the break. Mashburn had 10 points and Allick had 10 rebounds to lead UNM in the first half.

In the second half, the Lobos drew even with at 42-42 with 14:13 to go before Boise State regained the lead, 50-44 with 12:00 to play. UNM closed the gap to 52-51 at the midway point of the half and extended the run to take a 60-55 lead with 7:10 to play. The Lobos held a 64-59 lead with 3:45 to play and were up 70-67 with a minute left. A Boise State bucket with 23.8 left cut the lead to 70-69 before House was fouled with 18.2 left. He missed the front end of the 1-in-1, but the Lobos got a stop and Mashburn was fouled with 4.9 to go. He made both shots to make the score 72-69, but the Broncos hit a 3-pointer with 1.0 to play to tie the game and force overtime.

In overtime, a Mashburn jumper and a Dent layup-and-one gave UNM a five-point lead in the first minute. The Lobos held the lead, 79-76 with one minute to go, but a Bronco layup-and-one tied the game with 24.7 to go. After New Mexico called timeout with 4.0 left, Dent found Udeze slipping to the basket for the go-ahead hoop with 2.6 seconds left. The Broncos’ three-point attempt at the buzzer missed as the Lobos captured the victory.


LOBO NOTES
The Lobos 18-2 start to the season is their best 20-game start to a season since 1977-78 and tied for the second-best 20-game start in school history (19-1 in 1967-68)
• New Mexico snapped a four-game losing streak in overtime games, with their first overtime win since a 95-86 win over Fresno State in the 2017-18 home finale
Allick’s 18 rebounds were the most by a Lobo since Carlton Bragg had 18 vs. McNeese on Nov. 16, 2019 and the most against a conference opponent since Bragg had 20 rebounds at Wyoming on March 9, 2019
• Mashburn scored in double figures for the 41st consecutive game, the longest active streak in the Mountain West and second-longest active streak in the nation
The Lobos have already tied their conference win total of five from last season

QUOTABLE
“It was an amazing college basketball game, by both teams. They made plays. We made plays. They executed down the stretch. We executed down the stretch. I am proud of our guys to bounce back in the second half and just find a way to come back and then make a huge play at the end. That was the loudest building I have ever been in. By far. Not even close. Our fans were amazing. I felt horrible when we lost to UNLV when they showed out. How many places get these fans at 9:00 on a Friday night? They were unbelievable. They affected the game. I couldn’t hear myself. Thank you so much to our fans.” – Richard Pitino

UP NEXT
New Mexico will return to action on Monday with a visit to Nevada. Game time in Reno is 7 p.m. MT (6 p.m. PT) and the game will air on CBSSN.