Lobos Drop Double Overtime Thriller 97-94 at Nevada
RENO, Nev. – The No. 25 New Mexico men’s basketball team were edged by Nevada in a double overtime thriller, 97-94, on Monday night at the Lawlor Events Center. The Lobos (18-3, 5-3 MW) were playing their second straight overtime game, but the Wolf Pack (16-5, 6-2 MW) remained unbeaten at home this season.
Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored a career-high 33 points to lead the Lobos, his first career 30-point game and the first by a Lobo this season. Jaelen House and Morris Udeze both had double-doubles. House had 17 points and a season-high 10 assists for his second career double-double. Udeze had 16 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a fast start offensively, with Nevada leading 11-9 after three-and-a-half minutes. The Wolf Pack continued to hold the lead, 19-18, with 12:00 left in the half as both teams continued to shoot over 60% over the first eight minutes. Nevada led 23-18 at the midway point of the half before five straight points from KJ Jenkins drew the Lobos even. A 9-2 UNM run gave the Lobos their first lead at 27-25 with 7:10 to go. The teams traded the lead for the next few minutes with New Mexico leading 36-35 with 2:30 in the half. Nevada’s late 8-0 run gave it a 43-38 lead at halftime. Mashburn had 13 first-half points to lead the Lobos.
In the second half, Mashburn scored the first seven points of the half as the Lobos took a 45-43 lead with 17:30 to go. New Mexico pushed the lead to 53-49 with 15:00 to play before four straight points by the Wolf Pack tied the game with 13:30 to play. Back-to-back transition hoops from Sebastian Forsling and House forced a Nevada timeout with 12:30 to play as UNM led 57-53. The game was tied 59-59 at the midway point of the half before Nevada retook the lead, 61-59, with 8:55 to play. The lead was traded for several minutes and the game was tied 70-70 with 3:40 to play. The teams continued to trade the lead, with the game tied 76-76 with 1:10 to go. Nevada took an 78-76 lead with 38 seconds left before a Mashburn jumper in the lane tied it with 20 seconds to play. UNM got a stop at the defensive end before House’s three at the buzzer missed to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Mashburn opened the scoring with a triple off the opening tip and went up 85-81 on a Dent layup with 1:55 left. Udeze’s basket, giving him 1,000 career points, gave UNM an 87-82 lead with 1:12 to play, on House’s 10th assist of the night. Nevada cut the lead to 87-85 with a three and had the possession with the shot clock off down two. They scored and forced a jump ball on the Lobos’ last possession to force a second overtime.
In the second overtime, Nevada took a 91-89 lead with 2:58 to play and pushed the lead to 93-90 with 1:58 to go. Udeze was fouled on a defensive rebound with 1:04 to go and made both free throws to cut the deficit to 93-92. After Nevada made 1-of-2 from the line, House was fouled with 44.2 to play. He made both free throws to tie the game. Nevada took advantage of a flagrant foul call with 16 seconds left to make 3-of-4 free throws and the Lobos’ couldn’t find a tying three at the end.
LOBO NOTES
• Lobos played their first double overtime game since a win over UAB in 2013-14
• Mashburn scored in double figures for the 42nd consecutive game, the longest active streak in the Mountain West and second-longest active streak in the nation
QUOTABLE
“We put ourselves in a lot of positions to win the game, we just didn’t. We can’t get too emotional about it and we need to give them a lot of credit for how they played. We have a lot of great opportunities ahead of us in this conference, starting Friday with Air Force.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
New Mexico will return home to close out its January schedule on Friday when it hosts Air Force. Game time at The Pit is 8 p.m. and the game will air on CBS Sports Network. Tickets for that game are on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets.