No. 25 Lobos’ Down Wyoming 91-73 For Third Straight Road Win
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The No. 25 New Mexico men’s basketball team completed a season sweep of Wyoming with a 91-73 victory at the Arena-Auditorium. The Lobos (19-4, 7-3 MW) earned their third straight road win while the Cowboys (12-11, 5-5 MW) suffered their first home conference loss.
Donovan Dent led five Lobos in double figures with 19 points, to go with seven assists and a career-high six rebounds. Jaelen House had 17 points along with a career-high eight rebounds, while Jamal Mashburn, Jr. scored 15 points. Mustapha Amzil scored a season-high 13 points, while JT Toppin had 11 points and 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos jumped out to a 9-3 lead over the opening five minutes of play. After UNM extended the margin to nine at 12-3, Wyoming went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 12-12 with 10:20 to play in the half. UNM led 21-18 with 8:00 left in the half before pushing the margin to 37-20 with a 13-0 run with 4:00 left. The Cowboys would close the gap to 12 in the final minutes of the half before the Lobos took a 40-25 into intermission. Dent scored 11 first-half points to lead New Mexico.
In the second half, the Lobos pushed the margin to 17 over the first two minutes and led by 20, 53-33, with 16:15 left. UNM used a 7-0 run to push the lead to 64-40 with 12:50 left as they led 72-49 at the midway point of the half. The Cowboys used a 7-0 run to close the margin to 74-61 with 6:25 to play before UNM extended the lead back to 84-66 with 4:00 to play. Wyoming would get as close as 14 the rest of the way as UNM finished the 18-point win.
LOBO NOTES
• New Mexico never trailed for the third straight road win
• UNM’s three straight road wins is its longest road MW win streak since 2017-18 (final two) to 2018-19 (road opener)
• JT Toppin’s eight double-doubles are a UNM freshman record (breaking the previous record of seven by Kenny Thomas in 1995-96)
• Toppin’s 10 first-half rebounds marked his first career double-digit rebound half
• Second time this season UNM has had two players with double-figure rebounds (Toppin and Joseph), also accomplishing the feat vs. Toledo in the Ball Dawgs Classic
QUOTABLE
“It was a complete game. We built a lead and I thought they would throw a punch and they are really good offensively. We did a good job of sustaining it, getting some stops when we needed to and convert on the other end. I was concerned about this game. It is always a unique element with the elevation. I thought our guys were so locked in and were mature. They hadn’t lost here in conference and to come in here and win by double figures is a great win.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos will return home on Saturday when they host UNLV at The Pit. Game time is 6:00 p.m. and the game will air on CBS Sports Network. The game is sold out, marking UNM’s third sellout of the season.