STILLWATER, Okla. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team began its preseason schedule Sunday afternoon with a 99-89 victory over Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Preseason Mountain West Player of the Year Jake Hall led the way with 31 points as UNM recorded its first win in a road exhibition.
Hall’s 31, one shy of his career high for a regular season game, headlined four Lobos in double figures. Fynn Lastring scored 16 points in his collegiate debut, while Hudson Mayes had 13 points and a game-high seven rebounds in his first game as a Lobo. Uriah Tenette added 12 points and three assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos opened the game on an 8-0 run over the first two minutes as J. Hall scored the game’s first eight points. The Cowboys answered with a 13-0 run to take the lead with 13:45 to play. A 6-0 Lobo run gave UNM a 22-17 lead at the midway point of the half, as Hall had 20 of UNM’s first 22 points. UNM held a 28-27 lead with 5:00 left before back-to-back-to-back triples from Fastring gave the Lobos a 38-32 lead with 2:05 left. New Mexico would take a 42-38 lead into halftime as Hall (21) and Fastring (11) combined for 32 of UNM’s 42 points.
In the second half, the Cowboys scored the first five points to retake the lead, 43-42, with 18:00 left. OSU extended the advantage to 50-46 with 16:30 left. The Lobos used a 12-0 run to retake the lead, 60-52, with 12:30 left. UNM extended the lead to 74-60 at the midway point of the half before pushing the margin to 76-60 with 9:30 left. A 9-0 Cowboy run cut the margin to single-digits at 76-69 with 7:30 to play, but UNM pushed the margin back to 12 at 88-76 lead with 4:40 to play. The Lobos led by 10 with a minute to go before closing out the 99-89 victory.
LOBO NOTES
• Jake Hall scored the Lobos’ first 14 points of the game
• Hall’s 21 first half points were the most by a Lobo before halftime (preseason or regular season) since Jaelen House scored 26 first-half points vs. New Mexico State in 2023-24
• Hall’s 31 points were the most ever in a Division I exhibition by a Lobo, surpassing the 23 points Sam Logwood had vs. BYU in a 2017-18 charity exhibition
• UNM improved to 69-7 all-time in exhibitions, but 1-1 on the road
QUOTABLE
“Overall, I just liked our energy level. With the long travel and staying an hour away, I thought our guys did a nice job of being ready to go. They are a physical team, but we battled with them. We need to cut down on the fouls, but they would probably say that too. A lot of our frontcourt guys have never played college basketball, so it was good for them to get that experience. As is always the case at this point of the season, there are things we need to work on and clean up, but I am pleased with our first time getting to go up against someone else.” – Eric Olen
UP NEXT
The Lobos return home for their final two exhibitions later this month, hosting Washington State on Oct. 18 and Arizona State on Oct. 25 at The Pit – Powered by Nusenda as part of the Power Ford Tip-Off Series. Both games will tip-off at 2 p.m. Season ticket holders are reminded to log into their account at GoLobos.com/myaccount to reserve their seats for the Washington State and Arizona State games at the cost of $5 per ticket. Individual game tickets for the Power Ford Tip-Off Series are also available at GoLobos.com/tickets, beginning at $15 plus fees.