Lobos Earn Mountain West Regular Season Title with 71-67 Win at Nevada
RENO, Nev. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team captured at least a share of the 2025 Mountain West regular season championship with a 71-67 victory at Nevada Tuesday night at the Lawlor Events Center. The Lobos (24-6, 16-3 MW) earned their first regular season title since 2013 while completing a season sweep of the Wolf Pack (16-14, 8-11 MW).
Donovan Dent led the Lobos with 33 points and seven assists. Nelly Junior Joseph led New Mexico with 15 rebounds, scoring nine points to just miss a double-double.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos opened the game with a 6-0 run over the first two minutes of play and led 12-4 after four minutes of action. The Wolf Pack used a 9-1 run to tie the game at 13-13 with 13:10 left. Nevada took a 17-15 lead with 10:25 left in the half before UNM held an 18-17 advantage at the midway point. Nevada held a 28-21 lead with 7:45 left before UNM cut the margin to 32-31 with 4:30 left. A 6-0 UNM run gave them a three-point lead in the final minute as the Lobos took a 41-38 lead into the break. Dent had 20 points and five assists over the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, the Lobos scored the opening basket to push the lead to five, but Nevada rallied to take a 50-47 lead with 16:15 left. UNM retook the lead, 52-50, with 14:40 left to play before the Wolf Pack led 56-55 at the midway point of the half. The teams traded the lead for several minutes with UNM leading 59-58 with 7:15 to play. The Lobos took a 64-59 lead with 4:45 left after a corner three from Tru Washington before a Mustapha Amzil triple made it a 67-61 lead with 3:00 to play. Nevada cut the margin to 67-65 with 53.0 to play, but Amzil made 1-of-2 at the line with 42.3 left to make it a three-point lead. After a Wolf Pack basket 27 seconds left cut the margin to one, but Noland answered with a pair from the line with 18.3 left to give UNM a three-point lead. The Lobos got a defensive stop and Dent was fouled with 5.2 left. He made 1-of-2 to make the final score 71-67.
LOBO NOTES
• New Mexico won its fifth Mountain West regular season title and 10th overall (also won five in the WAC)
• New Mexico set a school record with 16 conference wins in a season
• The Lobos clinch the No. 1 seed for the 2025 Mountain West Tournament
• UNM tied a school record for conference road wins in a season with seven (also won seven in 2013-14)
• Dent’s 20 first-half points were the most by a Lobo in a first half since Jaelen House had 26 first-half points vs. New Mexico State (12/2/23)
• Dent had his fourth 30-point game of the season (fifth of his career)
• Dent became the 17th Lobo to score 600 points in a season
• Joseph had his seventh game with at least 15 rebounds (T-2nd most by a Lobo in a season in the past 50 years)
QUOTABLE
“I told the guys we had an amazing opportunity tonight. That’s what we had earned and we had to go do it on the road. To find a way to go get it on the road, and it’s a Quad 1 win on top of it, this was a great win. We showed amazing toughness at the end, whether it was Mustapha’s three, Tru’s three, or our defense at the end.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos conclude the regular season on Friday by hosting UNLV at The Pit. Game time is 8:00 p.m. and the game will air on CBS Sports Network. The game is sold out and fans are encouraged to wear red for a Cherry Out.