RENO, Nev. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team had its three-game win streak snapped with a 67-60 loss at Nevada on Tuesday night at the Lawlor Events Center. The Lobos (21-7, 12-5 MW) couldn’t overcome a late Wolf Pack (19-9, 11-6 MW) surge as Nevada won its seventh straight home game.
Jake Hall led New Mexico with 17 points, as he set the Mountain West record for points by a freshman in conference play with 291. Deyton Albury had 13 points while Uriah Tenette added 11 points off the bench.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Wolf Pack jumped out to an 8-0 lead over the game’s opening three minutes. The Lobos’ cold start continued as Nevada held a 10-2 lead with 13:00 left before UNM trimmed the margin to 10-5 at the midway point. The Lobos would tie the game, 12-12, with 7:25 left on Hall’s three to set the Mountain West freshman scoring record for conference play. UNM’s first lead came at 18-16 with 3:40 left before the teams traded the lead for several minutes. The game would go to halftime tied at 23-23 as Albury and Hall each had seven first-half points to lead New Mexico.
In the second half, after Nevada scored the first basket, 10 straight Lobo points gave them 33-25 lead with 15:45 to go. UNM took a 42-33 lead with 13:00 to play before the Wolf Pack closed to 42-38 with 12:00 to play. The Lobos led 44-38 at the midway point of the half before Nevada closed to 47-45 with 8:15 left. New Mexico led 52-46 with 6:30 left, but Nevada used a 7-0 run to retake the lead, 53-52, with 4:30 to play. Nevada used a 6-0 run to take a 59-54 lead with 2:10 to play. The Lobos could only get as close as four in the final minutes as Nevada closed out the 67-60 win.
LOBO NOTES
• The Lobos saw their five-game win streak against Nevada snapped
• Hall broke the previous Mountain West scoring record for freshmen in conference play of 278, set by Brandon McCoy of UNLV in 2017-18
• Hall scored in double figures for the 14th straight game, one shy of Kenny Thomas’ UNM freshman record of 15 straight double figure games
QUOTABLE
“I just thought we had too many empty possessions and couldn’t get enough stops, and that’s a tough combination. We had plenty of chances and we weren’t able to capitalize on those opportunities and they were able to. That was the difference.” – Eric Olen
UP NEXT
The Lobos will return home Saturday to host San Diego State in a sold out Pit. Game time is noon and the game will be televised on CBS (KRQE 13 in Albuquerque).