Lobos Down Utah State 82-79 in Matchup of Mountain West’s Top Teams
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team rallied from a double-digit second half deficit to defeat Utah State 82-79 on Sunday afternoon in The Pit in a matchup of the Mountain West’s top two teams. The Lobos (22-4, 14-1 MW) won their eighth straight game while earning the season sweep of the Aggies (22-4, 12-3 MW).
Tru Washington scored a career-high 25 points to lead New Mexico, while Donovan Dent added 23 points for his third-straight 20-point game. Nelly Junior Joseph had 15 points and Filip Borovicanin added 11 points for the Lobos.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a quick start offensively, with the Lobos leading 13-12 after five minutes of play. The Aggies held a 19-15 lead at the midway point of the half before five straight UNM points game them a 20-19 lead with 8:00 left. Utah State retook the lead, 26-23, with 5:40 left in the half before the Lobos drew even 28-28, with 3:00 to play. The Aggies took a late 40-33 lead with 1:00 to go before taking a 42-36 lead into the break. Dent scored 11 in the first half to lead UNM.
In the second half, the Aggies scored the first four points to push the advantage to double digits in the first minute. The Lobos cut the margin to four, 50-46, with 13:30 left in the half before a 7-0 UNM run gave them a 53-52 lead at the midway point. UNM’s lead grew to 64-59 with 6:45 left to play before Dent’s triple with 3:15 left pushed the margin to 72-66. The Lobos led 76-69 with 2:15 left before a 7-0 Aggie run tied the game with 1:15 left. Washington went 1-of-2 from the line with 56.5 left to give UNM a one-point lead. After a defensive stop, Washington’s triple with 9.4 seconds to go made the score 80-76, but the Aggies answered with a three with 4.0 left to cut the margin to one. Dent was fouled with 1.4 left and made both the make the final margin 82-79.
LOBO NOTES
• The Lobos’ eight-game win streak is their second-longest Mountain West win streak and tied for the fourth-longest conference win streak in program history
• New Mexico swept the Aggies for the first time since 2013-14
• The Lobos rallied from down double-digits in the second half for the second straight game
• UNM becomes the first team to clinch a first round bye at the Mountain West Tournament
QUOTABLE
“It was an amazing job of just finding a way. Utah State is a terrific team and Tru Washington stepped up in a huge way with 25 points. He made some huge threes, including the big three at the end. We thought they would be physical and we could get to the free throw line a lot and making 27 was great. We rebounded well and turned them over too. We will enjoy it tonight and get back to work tomorrow.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos will play their next two games on the road, visiting Boise State on Feb. 19 and San Diego State on Feb. 25. New Mexico has two home games remaining on their schedule, hosting Air Force on Mar. 1 and UNLV on Mar. 7. Tickets for both of those games are on sale now at GoLobos.com/tickets.