Open Announce

Double-Doubles Fuel Lobos’ 91-84 Season Opening Win Over Nicholls

by Steve Kirkland

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M – The New Mexico men’s basketball team opened the 2024-25 season with a 91-84 victory over Nicholls on Monday night at The Pit. The Lobos tied a school record with three players recording double-doubles to lift UNM to its 22nd consecutive season-opening win.

Nelly Junior Joseph tied a career-high with 28 points and matched his UNM best with 16 rebounds for his 44th career double-double, fourth most among active Division I players. Mustapha Amzil had 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for his fourth career double-double, while Donovan Dent also had his fourth career double-double, finishing with 15 points and 11 assists. Tru Washington added 12 points and CJ Noland scored 10 off the bench in his Lobo debut to give New Mexico five double-figure scorers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a fast start offensively, with the game tied 11-11 after four minutes of play. The game remained close, with the score tied 18-18 at the under-12:00 timeout. Nicholls took its first lead just before the midway point of the first half and led 26-25 with 8:00 left in the half. The Lobos used a 7-0 run to take a 32-27 lead with 6:15 to go and pushed the lead to 43-36 with 2:00 left. Nicholls trimmed the margin to five at 48-43 at the break. Joseph led the Lobos with 14 points and nine rebounds in the first half.

In the second half, after Nicholls cut the lead to one early, but a 9-0 Lobo run pushed the lead to 59-49 with 15:25 left. The Lobos continued to hold the lead and were up 64-57 with 12:10 to play and 68-59 at the midway point. Nicholls trimmed the margin to four at 69-65 with 9:00 to play before the Lobos used an 8-0 run to take a 77-65 lead with 6:45 left. The Colonels would cut the margin to four, 88-84 with 1:09 to play before the Lobos closed out the seven-point win from the free throw line in the final minute.

LOBO NOTES
• The Lobos had three players post double-doubles for the 13th time in program history and the first time in 27 years (last happened on Dec. 20, 1997 in an 81-62 home win vs. Texas Tech)
• New Mexico’s 36 3-point attempts are the most in the Pitino era
• UNM had double digit blocks (10) and steals (10) for the second time in two seasons (vs. Utah State last year) after going over 12 years without accomplishing the feat
• Five Lobos made their UNM debut, transfers Filip Borovicanin, CJ Noland and Atiki Ally Atiki, and freshmen Kayde Dotson and Jovan Milicevic

QUOTABLE
“I told our guys, teams come in here and get excited to play in this building. We are going to get everyone’s best shot. Nicholls won at LSU last year, so they had a quality win under their belt. We thought it would be tough. They shot a lot of threes and made some tough ones. Offensively, we were much better in the second half. We made an effort to get Nelly the ball and see if they could stop him. It was good for us to see some things that will help us improve.” – Richard Pitino

UP NEXT
The Lobos will take to the road for the first time in 2024-25 with a Friday matchup with No. 22 UCLA in the Las Vegas Hoopfest. Game time at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson is 9:00 pm MT (8:00 pm PT) and the game will air on CBS Sports Network and KNML radio.