LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team reached the midway point of the Mountain West schedule with a dominant 89-61 victory at UNLV on Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lobos (17-4, 8-2 MW) led wire-to-wire to record their largest ever win over the Runnin’ Rebels (10-10, 5-4 MW).
Tomislav Buljan posted his 10th double-double of the season to lead New Mexico, scoring 18 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Jake Hall also scored 18 points for the Lobos, while Uriah Tenette matched his career high with 15 points. Deyton Albury added 11 points as UNM had four double-figure scorers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos jumped out to an early 4-0 lead over the game’s first 90 seconds and pushed the margin to 12-4 after five minutes of play. UNLV cut the margin to 16-12 with 12:00 left before UNM took a 22-12 lead just past the midway point of the half. The lead grew to 34-16 with 3:40 left with a 12-2 Lobo run, forcing UNLV’s second timeout of the half. The Rebels used five straight to close to 34-21 with 2:30 left before UNM used a late surge to take a 41-22 lead at the break. Buljan scored 16 first-half points to lead the Lobos.
In the second half both teams started slow, with each team scoring just two points over the first two-and-a-half minutes. UNM pushed the margin to 53-26 with 13:00 left with an 8-0 run before taking a 66-35 lead at the midway point of the half. The lead grew to 84-46 with 4:15 to play before a 13-0 UNLV run cut the margin to 84-59 with 1:00 left. The Lobos would close out the 28-point win over the final minute.
LOBO NOTES
• The 28-point win marked UNM’s largest margin of victory against UNLV (previous was a 20-point win in The Pit in 2012, and largest previous road win in the series was a 12-point win in 2014)
• UNM made 10 threes, their fourth straight game with double-digit triples, its longest since a six-game streak to open the 2018-19 season
• UNLV did not have a double-figure scorer, marking the third time this season UNM did not allow a double-figure scorer in a game (NM Highlands, Florida Gulf Coast), marking the first time in the modern era that UNM accomplished the feat three times in a season
• The three freshmen (Hall, Buljan, Tenette) all scored in double figures in just one game over the first 18 contests (Nebraska), but tonight marked the third straight time it has happened
• Buljan’s 16 first half points tied the most in a first half by a Lobo this season (Hall had 16 at Air Force)
• Buljan became the first Lobo freshman to ever have four straight double-doubles
• Hall extended his streak of double-figure games to seven, tied for fourth-longest by a UNM freshman (and longest since a seven-game streak from John Robinson II in 1998-99)
• Antonio Chol remains the only player in the Mountain West to make a three in every game this season
QUOTABLE
“I thought we played pretty well. Defensively we made it difficult on them and I thought we made some good decisions with the basketball and were pretty efficient. A lot of guys contributed and it was a balanced effort. When Tomislav made the two threes early, I thought that this was going to be our night.” – Eric Olen
UP NEXT
The Lobos conclude the road trip on Saturday with a visit to San Jose State. Game time is 8:00 pm. MT (7:00 p.m. PT) and the game will air on CBS Sports Network. New Mexico returns home next week to host Utah State (Wednesday) and Boise State (Saturday). Tickets for those games are on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets.