Lobos Cap Mountain West Regular Season Title with 81-67 Win over UNLV
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team claimed the outright 2025 Mountain West Regular Season title Friday night with an 81-67 victory over UNLV at The Pit. The Lobos (25-6, 17-3 MW) tied the Mountain West record with their 17th conference win while completing the season sweep of the Runnin’ Rebels (17-14, 11-9 MW). It was New Mexico’s third outright Mountain West title, joining the 2009-10 and 2012-13 squads.
On his senior night, Nelly Junior Joseph capped his Pit career with a dominant 26-point, 16-rebound performance. Donovan Dent had 20 points and six assists, while Tru Washington added 19 points for the Lobos.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos got off to a quick start offensively, taking a 12-9 lead over the opening four minutes as Joseph scored UNM’s first eight points. UNLV took a 22-20 lead at the midway point of the half and increased the lead to 30-23 with 8:40 left. The Lobos answered with a 9-0 run to retake the lead, 32-30, with 6:45 to go. New Mexico pushed the margin to 40-33 with 1:00 to play before UNLV cut the halftime margin to 40-38. Joseph had 18 points to lead UNM in the first half.
In the second half, the Runnin’ Rebels scored the first five points to retake the lead, 43-40, after 90 seconds. The teams traded the lead for several minutes with the Lobos holding a 48-47 lead with 15:00 to go. UNM took a 57-51 lead with 11:00 to play and pushed the margin to 60-53 with 9:30 left. Five straight points by UNLV cut the lead to 64-63 with 7:00 left. UNM went on a 12-0 run to take a 77-64 lead with 2:10 remaining as they closed out the 14-point victory.
LOBO NOTES
• The Lobos’ 17 conference wins tie the Mountain West record for league wins set by San Diego State in 2020 (went 17-1 in an 18-game schedule)
• UNM caps their home schedule with a 16-1 record, its best since 2009-10 when the Lobos were unbeaten at home (17-0)
• New Mexico’s 25 regular season wins are its most since 26 regular season wins in 2012-13
• Donovan Dent becomes the first Mountain West player to ever average at least 20 points (20.9) and six assists (6.0) in conference play
• Dent became the 14th player in NCAA history to have 600 points and 200 assists in the regular season, first since Ja Morant of Murray State in 2018-19
• Nelly Junior Joseph had his 15th double-double of the season
• Joseph had his eighth game with at least 15 rebounds this season, tying the most 15-rebound games by a Lobo over the past 50 seasons (Bill Hagins had eight 15-rebound games in 1974-75)
• Lobos improved to 18-0 this season when Tru Washington scores in double figures
• It was the fourth sellout of the season at The Pit
QUOTABLE
“It was a special night. We wanted to be able to finish it the right way and do it in this building in front of one of the best fanbases in college basketball. To go wire-to-wire, I am so very proud of our guys. Nelly was phenomenal tonight, and so was Donovan. Our defense in the second half was much better and we were able to get a win over a good UNLV team.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos will be the No. 1 seed at next week’s Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas. After a first round bye, New Mexico will play either San Jose State or Wyoming in the quarterfinals on Thursday (noon PT, CBS Sports Network).