ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos head on the road for a Saturday afternoon matchup against UNLV at 2 p.m. MT/ 1 p.m. PT on the Mountain West Network.
UNM enters the game on a three-game win streak and winners of four of its last five games, and is 9-3, 1-0 in conference after a 70-63 win over Boise State. UNLV is 6-5 on the season, 3-2 in its last five games, and 1-0 in the MW following a 61-60 win at Grand Canyon.
SERIES HISTORY
UNM is 28-44 all-time against UNLV, 11-29 in Las Vegas. UNM has lost the last three games in the series, with the last win on Jan. 20, 2024, 69-66 in Las Vegas on a last-second three-pointer by Vianè Cumber.
FAST START
UNM is outscoring opponents 210-151 (+59) in the first quarter, 226-173 (+53) in the second quarter and 436-324 (+112) in the first 20 minutes.
WIN THE QUARTER
The Lobos have won the second quarter in seven games this season, scoring 20-plus points in six games (twice with 28 points, twice with 22 points, once with 24 and once with 20) and holding opponents to 16 points or fewer in seven.
Further, UNM has outscored its opponent in the first quarter seven times (NAU, UNO, UTM, CSU, UA, UH, BSU), the third quarter six times (UNO, NAU, NMSU, UTM, UA, UH) and the fourth quarter seven times (NAU, AT, UTM, UC, CSU, UH, BSU).
The Lobos have also held their opponent below 10 points in a quarter six times this season (five in the fourth quarter against NAU, five in the second quarter against Chicago State, four in the second quarter against NMSU, seven in the second quarter against UTM, nine in the fourth quarter against Houston and four in the first quarter against Boise State).
Three times, the Lobos have held their opponent below 20 points at the half: 15 points (New Mexico State), 17 points (Chicago State) and 18 points (UT Martin).
UNM is 7-0 when leading after the first quarter, 9-0 when leading at the half and 8-0 when leading after the third quarter.
60-70
While the trend right now is 6-7 and scoring 67 points, for the Lobos the trend is 60-70.
UNM is 5-0 when allowing 60 points or less, including holding three teams to 45 points or fewer. UNM is also 8-0 when scoring 70 or more points.
SHARE THE WEALTH
In all nine of UNM’s wins, the Lobos have had three or more players score in double figures. Five times (UT Martin, New Orleans, Chicago State, Houston and Boise State), the Lobos have had four players reach double digits.
Nine different Lobos have scored 10+ points in a game, led by Destinee Hooks with 12, followed by Cacia Antonio and Alyssa Hargrove with six and Nayli Padilla with five. Further, Joana Magalhães, Drew Jordon and Laila Abdurraqib have done so in two games and Clarissa Craig and Jessie Joaquim in one.
UNM has also had seven different leading scorers in a game with Hooks leading in four games, Padilla in three and Antonio, Hargrove, Joaquim, Magalhães and Craig in one game each.
The Lobos are 6-0 when Hargrove reaches double figures, 5-1 when Antonio reaches double figures, 4-1 when Padilla does and 3-0 when both Antonio and Padilla reach double figures in the same game.
Further, of UNM’s 314 made field goals, 163 were assisted (51.9%) with a season high of 21 against New Orleans.
Hargrove leads the team with 37 assists (3.1 per game) and is tied for fourth in the conference in assists per game. As a team, UNM is third in assists per game (13.6).
NO THREES FOR YOU, BUT WE’LL TAKE THEM
UNM has held seven opponents to under four three-pointers in a game and three opponents to under 20 percent from three-point range, including New Mexico State (14.3%), UT Martin (16.7%) and Cincinnati (18.8%). In addition, the Lobos held Colorado and Chicago State to 20 percent with Chicago State making three, three-pointers and Colorado four.
Opponents on average are making 4.9 three-pointers per game, going 59-218 (27.1%). UNM is third in the MW in three-point field goal defense and 72nd in the NCAA.
In road games, UNM’s opponents are averaging 3.3 three-pointers per game and 20.0% (10-50). UNM is making 10.0 three-pointers per game on the road, shooting 36.1%.
For the Lobos, they are making 8.3 per game and shooting 32.0%, led by Nayli Padilla with 25 made three-pointers (2.1 per game) and is shooting 35.7%. Laila Abdurraqib is second with 20 (1.7 per game) with Abdurraqib shooting 41.7% from three-point range. Padilla is fifth in the MW in three-pointers made per game with Abdurraqib tied for 10th and Destinee Hooks 13th. As a team, UNM is second in made three-pointers per game but has made the most three-pointers.
Nationally, UNM is tied for 48th in three-pointers per game and 29th in three-point attempts per game (26.8).
OWN THE BOARDS
The Lobos lead the MW in offensive rebounds per game (13.4), defensive rebounds per game (28.7), rebounding margin (+6.4) and rebounding offense (42.1). UNM is 71st in the NCAA in rebound margin, 43rd in rebounds per game and 44th in defensive rebounds per game.
UNM has outrebounded its opponent in eight games and is 8-0 when doing so.
As a team, UNM had a season-high 56 against UT Martin with the largest rebounding margin against UT Martin (+35). Of note, the 56 rebounds are the most in a game amongst MW teams this season. UNM is led by Emma Najjuma, who has 71 rebounds.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
UNLV is 6-5, 1-0 in conference, led by three players in double figures.
Jasmyn Lott leads the Lady Rebels with 14.5 points per game, and has led the team in scoring in the last four games and five games overall on the season. Lott also tied the team high in points in one game. Meadow Roland is averaging 13.2 points per game, but also is tied for the team lead in rebounds per game at 8.7, leading the team in scoring in two games and in rebounds in six games. Aaliyah Alexander is averaging 10.8 points per game, leading the team in scoring in two games and tying Roland for the lead in one game.
The trio are the only players to start all 11 games for UNLV with Shelbee Brown starting 10, Teagan Colvin starting nine, Destiny Leo starting two and Erica Collins starting in one.
As a team, UNLV is averaging 63.6 points per game, allowing 63.9 points per game, and is outscoring opponents in the first (181-163) and third quarters (182-174). The Lady Rebels are shooting 39.2% with opponents shooting 39.9% and has a +0.7 rebounding margin with 38.6 rebounds per game.
UNLV is sixth in the NCAA in fouls per game (12.4) and 50th in turnovers per game (13.8), and individually, Roland is 33rd in blocks per game (1.9), 34th in blocks (21) and 38th in double-doubles with four, leading the MW in all three categories. Roland also leads the team in minutes per game at 33.8, the 66th-most minutes in the NCAA and second in the MW.
Brown and Roland are tied for 66th in rebounds with 96 and 63rd in rebounds per game, while Brown is 40th in steals (30) and 45th in steals per game (2.7), second in the MW in each category.