Lobos Play Wyoming in Opening Round of Mountain West Tournament

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M – The New Mexico men’s basketball team begins play at the 2023 Mountain West Tournament on Wednesday when it faces Wyoming. Tipoff at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas is 5:00 p.m. MT (4 p.m. PT) and the game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network and the Lobo Radio Network.

New Mexico is the tournament’s No. 6 seed after going 21-10 overall and 8-10 in the conference. The Lobos are led by a trio of All-Mountain West players as Jamal Mashburn, Jr., Jaelen House and Morris Udeze were honored Tuesday. Mashburn, the conference’s leading scorer, was a first-team selection, House, the conference’s leader in steals, was a second-team selection and a member of the All-Defensive team, and Udeze, the conference’s leader in rebounding, double-doubles and field goal percentage, was a third-team selection.

Wyoming is the tournament’s No. 11 seed after going 9-21 overall and 4-14 in the conference. The Cowboys are led by second-team All-Mountain West guard Hunter Maldonado.

It is the third meeting of the season between the teams, as both won on the other’s home court. The Lobos won 76-75 in Laramie on New Year’s Eve as Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored 20 points, including the go-ahead free throws in the final minute. The Cowboys won 70-56 at The Pit on Valentine’s Day as House missed the game due to injury.

The winner of the New Mexico-Wyoming game will advance to the quarterfinals to play third-seeded Utah State on Thursday. That game will be 9:30 p.m. MT (8:30 p.m. PT) at the Thomas & Mack Center and will air on CBS Sports Network.