LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team advanced to the Mountain West Tournament semifinals with a 63-52 quarterfinal victory over San Jose State Thursday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lobos (26-6) matched their win total from last season with their 26th of the season, while the Spartans end the year at 15-19.
Donovan Dent led the Lobos with 25 points and five assists, while Nelly Junior Joseph added 14 points and a UNM conference tournament record 18 rebounds. Tru Washington, celebrating his birthday, added 11 points for New Mexico.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game was tied, 6-6, after opening five minutes of play. The Lobos took a 16-10 lead with 12:00 left before holding a 16-12 advantage at the midway point of the half. The Spartans used an 11-0 run to take the lead, 21-16, with 7:25 to play in the half. New Mexico used a 13-0 run to retake the lead, 29-21, with 1:00 to play before taking a 32-23 lead into the break as Dent banked in a three at the buzzer to give him 15 first-half points.
In the second half, the Lobos used an early 8-0 run to push the margin to 40-25 with 16:30 left. The Spartans answered with their own 8-0 run to cut the margin to 40-33 with 13:35 to play. UNM led 46-35 at the midway point of the half before five straight by San Jose State cut the margin to six with 8:30 left. A 7-0 Lobo run pushed the margin to 56-42 with 4:45 to play as UNM led by as many as 15 over the final minutes before closing out the 63-52 win.
LOBO NOTES
• The Lobos won their fifth straight Mountain West Tournament game and have outscored their opponent in all 10 halves of that streak
• Donovan Dent became the first player in Mountain West history to have five consecutive games of 20 points and five assists
• Dent had his eighth 25-point game of the season, the most by a Lobo in a season since Elijah Brown had 10 in 2015-16
• Dent had his 32nd consecutive game of at least 10 points and two assists, the longest such streak in Mountain West history and the longest active streak in Division I
• Nelly Junior Joseph’s 18 rebounds were a record for a UNM player in a Mountain West Tournament game (17 by J.R. Giddens vs. Utah in the 2008 quarterfinals) and tied a school record for rebounds in a conference tournament game (18 by Lewis LaMar vs. San Diego State in the 1994 WAC quarterfinals)
• Joseph’s 18 rebounds are T-3rd most in a Mountain West Tournament game (most since AJ West, Jr. of Nevada had 28 rebounds vs. UNLV in 2015)
• Joseph had his 16th double-double of the season, T-7th most in a season in UNM history
• Joseph had his ninth game of the season with at least 15 rebounds, most by a Lobo in a season over the past 50 years
QUOTABLE
“I am certainly happy to get the win. It was a frustrating game for us, but I think our defense in the second half was phenomenal. Donovan made huge plays offensively and Nelly tied a conference tournament record rebounding the ball. It was a choppy, ugly game, and a lot of that is credit to San Jose State. We needed to figure out a way to get it and advance. Now we can get a little rest and get excited for tomorrow. I am thankful to all the amazing fans who came out here to give us a home crowd.” – Richard Pitino
UP NEXT
The Lobos will play Boise State in the semifinals on Friday night. Game time at the Thomas & Mack Center is 7:30 pm MT (6:30 pm PT) and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.