Lobos Down San Jose State 96-68 for 20th Win of the Season
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak in dominant fashion, defeating San Jose State 96-68 on Friday night at the Provident Credit Union Events Center. The Lobos (20-7, 7-7 MW) reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2013-14, while the Spartans (16-11, 7-7 MW) had their four-game home win streak snapped.
Morris Udeze led the Lobos with 31 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season. Jamal Mashburn, Jr. had 27 points, while Jaelen House had seven points, five assists and five steals in his return to action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a strong offensive start, with the game tied 8-8 after the opening four minutes. The team traded the lead over the next few minutes before the Lobos took a 20-15 lead with 9:45 left in the half. UNM would extend the advantage to 26-17 with 8:10 to play in the half and continue the run to lead 40-21 with 3:45 left. New Mexico led by as many as 22 in the first half before taking a 50-31 lead into the break. Udeze had 17 points and Mashburn had 15 points to lead the Lobos in the first half.
In the second half, the Lobos pushed the advantage to 25 points at 70-45 with 12:45 to go. New Mexico led 72-51 at the midway point of the half and pushed the advantage back to 25 at 82-57 with 6:30 to go. The Lobos led by as many as 30 in the final minutes before closing out the 96-68 victory.
LOBO NOTES
• Jaelen House returned to the lineup after missing two games due to a lower body injury
• The Lobos’ 50 first-half points tied a season high (50 vs. Northern Colorado; 50 vs. UTSA)
• UNM shot 60.7 from the floor, its highest since shooting 64.1 vs. Houston Baptist in 2019-20
• New Mexico had two players with 25 points for the first time since Vance Jackson (25) and JaQuan Lyle (25) at San Jose State in 2019-20
• Mashburn scored in double figures for the 48th consecutive game, the longest active streak in the Mountain West and second-longest active streak in the nation
• Mashburn’s 13 20-point games leads the Mountain West
• Jaelen House had his 10th game this season with at least four steals
• The Spartan’s 29 offensive rebounds were an record for a UNM opponent (since 1986-87 when offensive rebounds started to be tracked)
QUOTABLE
“We were just so much more in sync with Jaelen coming back and bringing his energy. Everybody was back in their roles that they are used to playing. Regardless of Jaelen being back, we were so dialed in to go get a team win, and we were going to do it on the defensive side of it. We felt like we needed to find a way to get this win and it’s awesome to get to 20 wins. I still think we are in the hunt and a Quad 2 win tonight helps the resume. This was a great response and I am very proud of the team effort” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
New Mexico will conclude the road trip on Wednesday at Boise State. Game time for that contest is 8:30 p.m. and the game will air on FS1.