ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team won its fourth straight game and 21st straight home game with an 87-64 victory over Grand Canyon on Tuesday night at The Pit. The Lobos (14-3, 5-1 MW) broke open a tie game early in the second half to outscore the Lopes (10-6, 3-2 MW) 47-24 the rest of the way.
Jake Hall led New Mexico with 22 points, extending his UNM freshman record to six 20-point games. Uriah Tenette added 14 points and JT Rock set career highs with 13 points and four blocks. Deyton Albury and Luke Haupt each scored 11 points as five Lobos scored in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos used an early 8-0 run to take a 10-2 lead after three-and-a-half minutes of action as Hall scored seven of UNM’s first 10 points. Both teams went on a long scoring drought as UNM held a 10-7 lead with 12:00 left in the half. UNM led 17-12 at the midway point of the half during a 6-0 run to push the margin to 20-12. GCU closed the margin to 24-22 with 5:00 left in the half before UNM took a 31-24 lead with 3:30 to go. The Lopes closed the margin to two in the final seconds before Tenette’s three at the buzzer gave UNM a 38-33 halftime lead. Hall had 10 first-half points to lead New Mexico.
In the second half, Grand Canyon would tie the game, 40-40, with 18:45 left before a 10-1 run gave UNM an nine-point lead with 14:30 to go. UNM took its first double-digit lead at 55-44 with 12:30 to play and an 8-0 run, fueled by a pair of technicals and ejection of GCU coach Bryce Drew, gave UNM a 64-49 lead at the midway point. The Lobos used a 10-0 run to take an 81-56 lead with 5:00 left as GCU would only get as close as 20 in the final minutes as UNM closed out the 23-point win.
LOBO NOTES
• New Mexico’s 21-game home win streak is the fifth-longest in program history and tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation
• The game marked the first time all season that UNM never trailed in a game
• Jake Hall has back-to-back 20-point games for the second time this season to give him two of the three times that feat has ever been done by a UNM freshman (Kenny Thomas once in 1995-96)
• Rock’s four blocks were not only a career high, but the most by a Lobo in a game this season
• UNM shot 58.3% (14-24) from the floor in the second half, the fourth straight game shooting over 50 percent in the second half
QUOTABLE
“It was a good performance for us. I thought the crowd was awesome and we talked about at halftime how this place wears people down. We just wanted to keep playing our game. They shot the ball well in the first half to stay within striking distance and made a little run to start the second half. I thought we played really well the last 16 to 17 minutes of the game to get the win.” – Eric Olen
UP NEXT
The Lobos will travel to San Diego State this weekend for a matchup with conference co-leading Aztecs. Game time is 6 p.m. MT (5:00 pm PT) and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.