COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – New Mexico’s JT Toppin was named Mountain West Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday. Toppin was honored for the fourth time this season after helping the Lobos down UC Irvine last week.
With the honor, Toppin becomes the first player to win the Mountain West Freshman of the Week honor four times over the first seven weeks of the season. He becomes just the fifth freshman to be recognized at least four times in a season, joining Tyson Degenhart (Boise State, nine times in 2021-22), Darrion Williams (Nevada, six times in 2022-23), Rytis Petraitis (Air Force, six times in 2022-23) and Ethan Taylor (Air Force, four times in 2021-22).
In the Lobos’ lone game of the week, Toppin helped UNM post a 78-65 win over UC Irvine, ranked No. 55 in the NET, for its highest ranked win of the season. He had nine points and 11 rebounds, just missing his fourth double-double of the season. Defensively, Toppin added two blocks and matched a career high with three steals.
New Mexico (11-1) is riding a 10-game win streak and will conclude its non-conference schedule on Friday as it hosts Eastern New Mexico. Game time at The Pit is 7:00 p.m. and tickets are on sale now at GoLobos.com/tickets.