Lobos Pull Away in Second Half for 87-65 Win over Colorado State
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team ran its win streak to five with an 87-65 win over Colorado State on Wednesday night at The Pit. The Lobos (19-4, 11-1 MW) remain in first place in the conference, while the Rams (14-8, 8-3 MW) saw their four-game win streak snapped.
CJ Noland had 19 points off the bench on a perfect 7-7 shooting (3-3 3FG) night to lead New Mexico. Donovan Dent had 19 points, tied a career high with six rebounds and added four assists. Nelly Junior Joseph posted his 12th double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while also recording five blocks, four assists and three steals. Tru Washington scored his conference career-high of 15 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rams jumped out to an early 9-2 lead over the opening two minutes of play. UNM closed the margin to 13-10 with 15:00 left to play before CSU held at 20-17 lead at the midway point of the half. The Lobos took their first lead of the game with 8:40 left as an 8-0 run gave New Mexico a 25-20 advantage with 8:15 left. UNM led 31-24 with 3:55 to play in the half after a 6-0 run and led by as many as eight in the final minutes before taking a 35-31 lead into the break. Washington scored nine first-half points to lead New Mexico.
In the second half, the Lobos used an early 6-0 run to push the margin to 43-35 with 16:30 left. The Rams used a 10-2 run to tie the game at 47-47 with 13:20 to play. After CSU took a lead, back-to-back triples from Noland gave UNM a 55-51 lead with 11:30 left. New Mexico led 57-53 at the midway point of the half before the lead grew to 70-56 with 6:15 left after an 11-2 run. The Lobos would pull away in the final minutes as the 22-point final margin was their largest of the night.
LOBO NOTES
• The Lobos are 11-1 in the Mountain West for the first time better, posting their best start to a conference season since starting 11-1 in the WAC in 1997-98
• Nelly Junior Joseph becomes the second Lobo in the past seven seasons to record four consecutive double-doubles (Morris Udeze in 2022-23)
• The Lobos shot 9-14 (64.3%) from 3-point range, their highest percentage from deep in eight years (66.7, 6-of-9, at Colorado State in 2016-17)
• New Mexico scored 52 second half points for the second straight game
QUOTABLE
“It was another terrific second half, scoring 52 points in back-to-back games. We have so much respect for Colorado State and they were playing great. It was back and forth for the first half, and then we composed ourselves and went on an amazing run. We are shooting the ball well and have a great desire to win. We have to get back to work tomorrow.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos will visit Air Force on Saturday before returning home for a pair of games next week, hosting Wyoming (Feb. 12) and Utah State (Feb. 16). Tickets for those games are on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets.