Lobos halt Rebels
UNM makes key shots down the stretch to beat UNLV 85-81
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — With a headset on, Marvin Menzies sat on a stool on Tarkanian Court moments after losing on UNLV’s home court for the third time in as many Mountain West Conference games.
His rather somber postgame interview was being broadcast on the large video monitor hanging over the court inside the Thomas & Mack Center while Rebel fans were yelling their displeasure from the stands.
While that was going on, his friend and longtime assistant, UNM Lobos coach Paul Weir was halfway up the arena steps doing his postgame interview with the Albuquerque-based radio crew, getting compliments from Rebel fans.
While he doesn’t enjoy what his friend is going through, Weir was all smiles after his Lobos picked up their first road win of the season, scoring the final nine points of the game in 1:07 to shock the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, 85-81, in front of an announced crowd of 10,546.
“To get a road win for us, obviously is enormous,” Weir said. “And against a team of this caliber — a top 100 (KenPom rating) team. It’s growth for us. There’s a lot of reasons why, maybe these things shouldn’t be happening. But we’re not asking that in that locker room. We’re just trying to do everything we can to just be the best that we can be.”
The win improves UNM to 9-11 overall and 4-3 in Mountain West play. UNLV drops to 13-5, 2-3 in league games.
It was the fourth-consecutive game the team played with just eight scholarship players and a now-utilized walk-on. Two freshmen — Vladimir Pinchuk (10 points, three rebounds) and Makuach Maluach (19 points) and the walk-on, junior Mike Mondragon — had Weir shaking his head.
“They probably shouldn’t be,” Weir said of those players being relied on so much while Troy Simons and Sam Logwood remain out of the rotation for various reasons. “It defies a lot of logic, but that’s part of the reason we’ve been playing these guys all year . ...
“We’ve got nine now. They call themselves the ‘Nasty Nine’ and they’re just giving it all they’ve got and I’m just really happy for them that they get the feeling of a good road win together.”
The back-and-forth game looked to be getting away from UNM down the stretch. After leading almost the entire first half, UNLV was up 67-56 with 6:48 remaining. That was after an 18-5 scoring stretch that looked like it might be too much for the Lobos to handle.
Down 81-76, junior Anthony Mathis, who was just 1-of-7 from 3-point range to that point, drained a 3-pointer with 1:07 left while also being fouled, converting a four-point play to pull UNM within 81-80.
A defensive stop led to another Mathis 3-pointer and an 83-85 lead with 14 seconds left.
Another defensive stop and a Joe Furstinger rebound led to the senior forward draining a two game-clinching free throws with 3 seconds remaining.
“I thought we had some really timely plays down the stretch,” Weir said. “I think we’ve been in a lot of these games down the stretch . ... We’ve had several close games down the stretch. We just haven’t been able to close one. I think being in those games over and over again have really kind of built a real toughness.”