SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team nearly completed a 15-point second-half comeback, but fell to Mountain West-leading San Diego State 83-79 on Saturday night at Viejas Arena. The Lobos (14-4, 5-2 MW) held a two-point lead with a minute to go, but the Aztecs (13-4, 7-0 MW) finished the game with six straight points to remain the only unbeaten team in conference play.
Tomislav Buljan led New Mexico with 20 points and 14 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season and his second career 20-and-10 game. Jake Hall had 15 points to go with a career-high five assists. Antonio Chol scored 12 points on a career-high four threes, while Luke Haupt matched his season high with 11 points for the second straight game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aztecs took an early 8-5 lead after the game’s opening four minutes of action. Hall’s four-point play gave UNM a 14-10 lead with 13:45 left, a lead that grew to 19-13 with 12:30 left. A 6-0 Aztec run tied the game before UNM held a 25-22 lead at the midway point. The teams kept trading the lead until SDSU used a 12-0 run to take a 36-28 lead with 5:00 left. The Aztecs ended the half on a 6-0 run to take a 48-35 lead at the break. Chol and Hall each scored nine first-half points to lead UNM.
In the second half, SDSU’s lead grew to 15 early before a 10-0 UNM run cut the margin to 51-46 with 17:00 to play. The Lobos cut the margin to 63-62 just before the midway point of the half, which remained the margin at 69-68 Aztecs with 6:00 to play. SDSU pushed the lead to 73-68 with 4:45 left before five straight by the Lobos tied the game with 3:55 to go. The game remained tied, 77-77, with 2:00 to play before a Buljan steal and dunk gave UNM a 79-77 lead with 1:00 left. After a pair of Aztec free throws tied it with 55 seconds left, SDSU got a steal and retook the lead with 10 seconds left. The Lobos’ shot to tie the game missed and the Aztecs were fouled on the rebound as they closed out the 83-79 win.
LOBO NOTES
• UNM lost when leading with 1:00 to play for the first time since last year’s loss to Boise State in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals
• Buljan’s seventh double-double of the season ties him for second most by a Lobo freshman (tied with Kenny Thomas, trailing JT Toppin’s 12)
• Chol remains the only Mountain West player to make a 3-pointer in every game this season
• Hall’s first-half four-point play was the first 4-point play by a Lobo this season
QUOTABLE
“I was proud of the effort tonight to fight back and give us a chance to win. We did a nice job of executing better in the second half. Road wins in this league are tough to get and it is disappointing we couldn’t finish the deal, but we can take a lot from that second half. Credit to San Diego State, they made a few more plays in that final minute than we did.” – Eric Olen
UP NEXT
The Lobos return home next week for a pair of home games at The Pit. New Mexico hosts Fresno State on Wednesday (7 pm) and Nevada on Saturday (6 pm). Tickets for both games are available now at GoLobos.com/tickets.