Lobos’ road woes continue despite Maluach’s heroics
The road woes continued for The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team Saturday night in Fresno, Calif.
Despite getting a career-high 21 points from freshman Makuach Maluach, the Lobos dropped an 89-80 decision to Mountain West Conference rival Fresno State at the Save Mart Center.
UNM is now 0-6 on the road this season and 0-2 in neutral-site games. The loss drops the Lobos to 8-11 overall and 3-3 in conference play. They are currently in a five-way tie for fourth place, 2½ games back of unbeaten conference leader Nevada.
Fresno State was red hot all night, shooting 65 percent from the field and hitting 9 of 12 attempts from 3-point range. The Bulldogs (13-6, 3-3) double-figure scoring from five players, led by Dehon Taylor’s 22 points.
Maluach continued his hot play of late. He established new career highs for points, minutes played and shots made and attempted, but he did foul out after Fresno State used a 19-2 run late in the second half to put the game out of reach. That spurt included a 14-0 run after the Lobos built a 64-59 lead in the final 10 minutes.
New Mexico suited up just eight players for the third straight game as head coach Paul Weir continued to extend his disciplinary action against senior Sam Logwood and junior Troy Simons.
Anthony Mathis had 18 points for the Lobos. He had half of the team’s eight 3-pointers but he, too, fouled out late in the second half.
Chris McNeal came off the bench to score 16 points. He and Antino Jackson shared time at point guard, with Jackson scoring seven points with a team-high five assists.
Fresno State led 42-40 at halftime even though it was shooting 75 percent from the floor until the final minute of the first half. The Lobos trailed by double figures early but rallied back by playing smart at the offensive end and shooting the ball well themselves.
As a team they hit 28-of-54 shots, for 52 percent. They had only 10 turnovers but forced only
nine Bulldogs miscues.
The latest UNM led was 66-64 with nine minutes remaining, but that quickly went away in the midst of Fresno State’s aforementioned 19-2 run. The game featured 11 ties and nine lead changes, the last coming on a Taylor layup with 7:53 to go.
The Lobos will remain on the road into next week. They head to UNLV on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. tipoff against the Runnin’ Rebels in the Thomas & Mack Center.
UNM WOMEN
The starting lineup scored all but four of the team’s points as the Lobos beat visiting Fresno State, 88-75, on Saturday afternoon in The Pit.
New Mexico never trailed, opening the game on a 7-0 run to improve to 16-3 overall and 4-2 in the Mountain West. The Bulldogs fell to 8-9, 3-3.
Center Jaisa Nunn led UNM with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Cherise Beynon had 20 points of her own, complimenting a 10-assist, seven-rebound outing.
Tesha Buck and Alex Lapeyrolerie had eight of the team’s nine 3-pointers, hitting four apiece to combine for 32 points. Buck added five rebounds and five assists to her 18 points while N’Dea Flye chipped in with a dozen points.
The Lobos remain unbeaten at home and have won 13 straight in The Pit, the sixth-longest streak in program history.
“I think every basketball team is heavy on protecting the house and just playing well at home, especially with the amount of fans that we have here at home so it’s easy to come here and feed off their energy,” Buck said. “It definitely makes it easier to play well.
The Lobos remain at home for their next game, hosting UNLV (8-7, 3-1) on Wednesday night in The Pit. The Associated Press contributed to this report.