Lobos Travel to Memphis to Meet Clemson in NCAA First Round

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M – The Mountain West champion New Mexico men’s basketball team will begin play at the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Friday with a first round matchup against Clemson. The 11-seeded Lobos and 6th-seeded Tigers will tip-off at 2:10 pm CT (1:10 pm MT) at the FedEx Forum, with the game airing on TruTV, Westwood One Radio and the Lobo Radio Network.

The Lobos are 26-9 this season and earned their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in a decade after winning last week’s Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas. UNM became the first team in conference history to win four games in four days to take the tournament title. Jaelen House, the Mountain West Tournament MVP, led UNM by scoring 92 points over the fourth victories, the second-most points in Mountain West Tournament history. JT Toppin, who had a pair of double-doubles in the tournament, and Jamal Mashburn, Jr., who scored 21 points in the final vs. San Diego State, were also named to the All-Tournament Team.

Clemson is 21-11 this season and finished sixth in the ACC with an 11-9 record. The Tigers are coming off a 76-55 loss to Boston College in the second round of the ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C. Clemson is led by first-team All-ACC forward PJ Hall, who averages 18.8 points per game.

The game will be the first ever meeting between New Mexico and Clemson. It will be the Lobos’ first trip to Memphis since a loss to Memphis in the 2001 NIT Quarterfinals.

New Mexico is making its 16th NCAA Tournament appearance, first since 2014. The Lobos are 8-16 all-time in March Madness and are looking for their first win in the Big Dance since a first round win over Long Beach State in 2012.

The winner of the game will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday against the winner of the matchup of No. 3 seed Baylor and No. 14 seed Colgate. Game time and TV network for that contest in Memphis will be announced Friday night following the conclusion of the first round games.