Lobos Fall to No. 22 St. John’s at Madison Square Garden
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, falling to No. 22 St. John’s 85-71 on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The Lobos (3-1) rallied in the second half to get within four before the Red Storm (4-0) pulled away late to remain unbeaten.
The Lobos were led by Mustapha Amzil and Nelly Junior Joseph, who each scored 16 points. CJ Noland had a season-high 15 points off the bench and Donovan Dent added 12 points and six assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game remained close early, with the score tied 6-6 at the first media timeout. The Red Storm used a 6-0 run to take its first lead of the game and held a 14-11 with 11:00 left in the half. A 14-2 St. John’s run pushed the margin to 28-15 with 7:00 left in the half. The lead grew to as many as 16 late in the first half before the Lobos closed the gap to 40-29 at the break. Amzil and Joseph both had eight points to lead UNM over the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, the Lobos got off to a fast offensive start and forced a Red Storm timeout with 17:03 left as UNM cut the margin to 46-39. The Lobos got within six at 54-48 with 13:30 to play after a triple from Noland. A 6-0 Red Storm run pushed the lead back to 12 with 11:15 to play before UNM cut it to 60-54 just past at the midway point of the half. UNM got within four at 63-59 with 8:00 to play, but St. John’s used a 6-0 run to push the lead back to double digits at 72-61 with 5:00 left. The Lobos got as close as eight in the final two minutes before the Red Storm closed out the 14-point win at the foul line.
LOBO NOTES
• The Lobos were playing at Madison Square Garden for the first time since the 1990 NIT
• It marked the first time UNM has played two ranked opponents in November
• Amzil tied a career high with four 3-pointers
• St. John’s’ Rick Pitino improved to 3-1 against UNM’s Richard Pitino in their four father-son coaching matchups
• The loss snapped UNM’s three-game win streak against the Big East
QUOTABLE
“The concern I had coming into the game came true. Their size, their strength and their physicality broke open the game at times. We were able to get some stops, but we couldn’t get rebounds. I am really proud of the fight our guys had. We cut it to four in the second half, six a couple of times, but we just couldn’t get over the hump. That is a team that is going to sit in the top 20 all year and be right there for the Big East title. It was an awesome opportunity to come to Madison Square Garden. Even though we didn’t win, it was a lot of fun and I’m thankful to my dad agreed to do it and grateful that my players were experience something like this ” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos return home for a two-game homestand at The Pit. New Mexico hosts Grambling State on Thursday (7:00 pm) and Texas Southern on Sunday (6:00 pm). Tickets are on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets.