ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team remained unbeaten at home this season with an 80-73 victory over Nevada on Saturday night at The Pit. The Lobos (16-4, 7-2 MW) erased a nine-point second half deficit to defeat the Wolf Pack (14-6, 6-3 MW) for the fifth straight time.
Jake Hall led New Mexico with 19 points, connecting on five-of-nine from behind the arc to set a new UNM freshman 3-point season total of 59. Tomislav Buljan had his ninth double-double of the season, with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Uriah Tenette added 13 points and JT Rock had 11 points off the bench.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a slow offensive start with Nevada leading 5-3 after four minutes of action. The Wolf Pack led 12-8 with 12:00 left before an 8-2 Lobo run gave them a 16-14 lead at the midway point of the half. The teams would trade the lead for several minutes before an 8-2 run from the Lobos gave them a 26-21 lead with 6:30 to play. Six straight from the Wolf Pack gave them a 32-21 lead with 2:30 to play before the teams traded the lead down the stretch. UNM would take a 36-35 lead into the half as Tenette scored nine first-half points to lead the Lobos.
In the second half, Nevada scored the first nine points to take a 44-36 lead with 17:20 to play. The Lobos used an 8-0 run to retake the lead, 50-48, with 12:00 to go as Hall made his third triple of the second half. New Mexico led 55-53 at the midway point of the half before the Wolf Pack retook the lead, 57-55 with 8:40 to play. UNM led 67-62 with 4:30 to play after Hall’s fifth three of the game and an Albury triple with 2:25 left pushed the margin to 74-67. A Nevada three with 17.2 left cut the margin to five at 78-73, but that was as close as the Pack would get as the Lobos closed out the seven-point win.
LOBO NOTES
• New Mexico’s 23-game home win streak is the third-longest in program history and is the fifth-longest active streak in the nation
• Antonio Chol remains the only player in the Mountain West to make a 3-pointer in every game this season
• Hall set the UNM freshman record for three-pointers in a season with 59, passing Kendall Williams, who had 55 threes as a freshman in 2010-11
• Hall had his sixth game of the season with at least five threes, T-4th most by a Lobo in a season
• Buljan had his third game of the season with at least 15-rebounds, a new UNM freshman record
• New Mexico made 12 threes, marking the first time since 2021-22 that the Lobos made double-digit threes in three straight games
• Buljan’s nine double-doubles are second-most in UNM history by a freshman (JT Toppin with 12 in 2023-24)
QUOTABLE
“It was a great result for us. I was impressed with Nevada and how they played. It was a pretty good college basketball game. I am sure when we look at the film there will be things we wished we had done better, but our guys did a nice job of grinding out a win tonight.” – Eric Olen
UP NEXT
The Lobos will take to the road next week, visiting UNLV on Tuesday and San Jose State on Saturday. New Mexico returns home the following week to host Utah State (Feb. 4) and Boise State (Feb. 7). Tickets for those games are on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets.
Lobos’ Strong Finish Lifts UNM to 80-73 Win Over Nevada
