Lobos Fall at Boise State 82-77
BOISE, Idaho – The New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered an 82-77 loss at Boise State on Wednesday night at ExtraMile Arena. The Lobos (20-8, 7-8 MW) couldn’t overcome cold shooting late in the game as they fell to the Broncos (22-6, 12-3 MW).
Morris Udeze led the Lobos with 18 points and 14 rebounds for his Mountain West-leading 12th double-double of the season. Jaelen House had 14 points and six assists, while KJ Jenkins has 12 points. Javonte Johnson scored 11 points, his fourth double-figure game in the last six outings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game remained close early, with Boise State holding a 98 lead after the opening four minutes of play. The teams traded the lead for several minutes before a 6-0 Bronco run gave them a 20-15 lead with 10:45 left in the half. The Lobos answered with an 8-0 run, capped by a Jenkins triple, to retake the lead, 23-20, with 8:40 in the half. A 12-0 run pushed the New Mexico advantage to 35-23 with 3:45 to play in the half. The lead would grow to as many as 13 late in the half before the Broncos ended the half on a 7-0 run to cut the Lobo lead to 37-31 at the break. Udeze had eight points and 10 rebounds to lead UNM in the first half.
In the second half, Boise State opened the half strong to cut the lead to 43-42 with 16:00 to play and the Broncos retook the lead, 49-48, with 13:20 left to go. The teams traded the lead for several possessions before Boise State gained a 56-52 edge with 11:35 to go. The Lobos scored five straight to retake the lead and held a 59-58 edge at the midway point. The Broncos used a 13-2 run to take a 71-63 lead with 4:20 to play. The Lobos could only get within six in the final minutes before a Donovan Dent three in the final seconds cut the final margin to five.
LOBO NOTES
• New Mexico lost when leading at the half for just the second time this season (UNLV)
• Morris Udeze leads the Mountain West with 12 double-doubles, nine in conference play
• Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored seven points, snapping his 48th consecutive double-figure scoring streak, the fifth-longest streak in New Mexico history
QUOTABLE
“I thought we played very, very hard, but I don’t think we played that smart, especially on the offensive end in the second half. We competed. We were hustling, rebounding, but we just needed to be a little more disciplined offensively. We have been really good at that, but I thought we lost our way a little bit. What we did in the first half was we got stops and got out on the break. It was hard in the second half because we were not great offensively and then let them get out on the break. We played hard and Boise State is an established program and we can learn from these types of games.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
New Mexico will return home to host No. 22 San Diego State on Saturday night at The Pit. Game time is 8 p.m. and the game will air on CBS Sports Network. The game has been sold out for weeks, but if any tickets become available, they will go on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets at 9 a.m. Saturday.