Strong Second Half Lifts Lobos to 82-63 Win at Utah State
LOGAN, Utah – The New Mexico men’s basketball team took over first place in the Mountain West with a 82-63 victory over Utah State Saturday night at the Smith Spectrum. The Lobos (18-4, 10-1 MW) rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to hand the Aggies (19-3, 9-2 MW) their most lopsided home loss since 1996-97.
Mustapha Amzil led New Mexico with 16 points, while Nelly Junior Joseph had 15 points on perfect shooting (7-7 FG, 1-1 FT) and 13 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season. Donovan Dent had 14 points and six assists, Tru Washington scored 13 points and CJ Noland added 11 points off the bench.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aggies used an early 7-0 run to lead 7-1 after four minutes. UNM cut the margin to 10-9 with 12:00 to play in the half before Utah State held a 15-13 lead at the midway point of the half. A 6-0 Lobo run gave them their first lead of the night, 17-15, with 9:00 to play before the game was tied, 22-22, with 6:30 left in the half. The Aggies’ 6-0 run gave them a 30-23 lead with 3:45 to play in the half. The lead grew to nine in the final minutes before Utah State took a 36-30 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Lobos cut the margin to three, 40-37, with 17:30 left to play, but Utah State pushed the margin to 48-39 with 15:15 to play. A 13-1 Lobo run would give UNM a 52-49 lead, its first of the second half, with 12:00 left to play. New Mexico held a 56-53 lead at the midway point of the half and the lead grew to 60-53 with 8:30 to go. Five straight points from Amzil gave UNM a 65-54 lead with 7:00 to play and the Lobos led 72-57 with 3:30 left in the game. The Lobos extend the final margin to 19 with a triple from Jovan Milicevic in the final minute.
LOBO NOTES
• New Mexico is 10-1 in Mountain West play for the first time ever
• The game was just the second all-time matchup between two Mountain West teams 9-1 or better in the conference (in 2011, 12-1 BYU won at 12-1 San Diego State)
• The win snapped the Lobos’ seven-game losing streak at Utah State (last win in Logan was 2015), the fourth road losing streak of six or greater snapped by UNM this season (at Colorado State, at Fresno State, at UNLV)
• Utah State’s last home loss by at least 19 points came in 1996-97, a 60-41 loss to Utah
• Nelly Junior Joseph’s 7-7 performance from the floor was the Lobos’ best perfect field goal game since 2021 (Valdir Manuel went 7-7 at Air Force on Feb. 22, 2021)
QUOTABLE
“The second half was just phenomenal. Our rebounding was plus-15 against a physical team and we were 6-of-13 from three in the second half. We did a great job with free throws and guarding the 3-point line because they took a lot of them. This is obviously a very difficult place to play and our guys were so business-like with their approach.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
New Mexico returns home to host Colorado State (8-2 MW) on Wednesday. Tickets for that game are on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets.