Lobos Fall at Air Force 89-77
USAFA, Colo. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered its third straight loss, falling at Air Force 89-77 on Friday night at Clune Arena. The Lobos (19-6, 6-6 MW) three-game losing streak is a season-long, while the Falcons (13-13, 4-9 MW) snapped a six-game losing streak.
Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored 32 points, his second career 30-point game, to lead the Lobos. Javonte Johnson, playing in his hometown, scored a season-high 16 points, while Donovan Dent had 10 points in his first career start.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to strong start offensively, with the Lobos holding a 10-9 lead with 14:30 left in the half. New Mexico, led by 11 points by Mashburn over the first nine minutes, held a 19-16 advantage with 11:00 to go. A 6-0 run by the Falcons gave Air Force a 20-19 lead with 9:15 left in the half before the teams traded the lead for several minutes. After the Lobos took a four-point lead, a 12-0 Air Force run gave them a 35-27 lead with 2:30 in the half. The Falcons took a 39-32 lead into halftime as Mashburn scored 20 first-half points to lead UNM.
In the second half, Air Force scored the first 10 points to extend the lead to 49-32 with 16:30 to play. The Falcons would lead by as many as 22 with 11:45 to play as they made 11-of-14 field goals to open the half. An 8-0 Lobo run cut the deficit to 65-51 with 9:45 to play, but Air Force answered with a 10-2 run to push the lead back to 22 points with 7:30 left. New Mexico would end the game on a 12-2 run to cut the final margin to 12.
LOBO NOTES
• Jaelen House missed the game due to a lower body injury
• Mashburn was the first Lobo to score 20 first-half points since Vance Jackson (20) vs. Fresno State on Feb. 16, 2019
• Mashburn scored in double figures for the 46th consecutive game, the longest active streak in the Mountain West and second-longest active streak in the nation
• Mashburn had his 12th 20-point game of the season
QUOTABLE
“I’m not going to say that losing one of the best players in the league didn’t hurt us, that was a little bit of bad timing and bad luck. We have to take ownership of this game. We had enough guys who can play better defense than that for sure. Defensively, we could not get any energy to get stops. Give them credit, they made that run to start the second half where they made plays and we didn’t.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
New Mexico will return home on Feb. 14 when it hosts Wyoming. Game time at The Pit is 8:00 p.m. and the game will air on CBS Sports Network. Tickets for that game are on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets.