Punchless Lobos foul out in road loss to Runnin’ Rebels
The wheels were already starting to come off for the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team when Jaelen House picked up a costly technical foul during a dead-ball scrum in the second half of Tuesday night’s game in Las Vegas, Nev.
They came completely off shortly thereafter.
UNLV turned a two-point lead at halftime into an 83-73 win at the Thomas & Mack Center, getting much of its momentum after the House whistle. The Runnin’ Rebels handed the Lobos (13-3, 1-2 Mountain West) their second straight road loss in conference play.
In both of them, House has been erratic — and Tuesday’s game was a prime example. With UNM down 52-44, an entry pass into Nelly Junior Joseph led to a tie-up with Joseph fighting for possession while lying on the floor, House raced in well after the whistle and shoved the Rebels’ Dedan Thomas Jr. with two officials standing in the middle of it.
It led to four quick points on that possession, which ignited a 17-4 UNLV run that put the game out of reach.
The Rebels (8-6, 1-1) blistered UNM’s defense with 10 made 3s. The Lobos didn’t have any of their own until House finally made one with nine minutes remaining and UNLV leading by 21.
UNM managed to cut that deficit down to nine, but that’s when the Rebels turned to power forward Kalib Boone in the low post. He finished with a game-high 29 points on 11-for-16 shooting, decimating the Lobos’ big men with efficient scoring down the stretch.
“We’ve certainly got to do a better job on the kid who scores 29 points, right? That’s obvious,” UNM coach Richard Pitino said afterward. “We’re giving up 58% shooting in the second half. It’s going to be hard to beat anybody.”
The Rebels also turned the tables on the Lobos’ attacking defense, forcing 16 turnovers and outscoring UNM 26-8 on miscues. For reference, UNM outscored Wyoming 28-0 on turnovers in its previous game.
“Their pressure really bothered us,” Pitino said. “They were physical, they were aggressive, they had length. That certainly bothered us.”
Only three Lobos reached double figures, led by 16 apiece from J.T. Toppin and House. Jamal Mashburn Jr. had 13, but guard Donovan Dent was held to three points in 28 minutes of playing time.
House was one of five Lobos with two fouls at halftime. He finished the game with four, playing the final five-plus minutes after getting his fourth; the second time in as many MWC road games that he has struggled to remain on the floor due to foul trouble.
UNLV led 13-4 just five minutes into the game before the Lobos responded with a 19-8 run to take a lead. The Rebels answered that spurt with one of their own and led 40-38 at halftime. They never trailed in the second half.
“Second game in a row, really third game in a row coming out of halftime we just didn’t have the pop that we did in the first half,” Pitino said. “I think we’ve played in conference three really good first halves but for whatever reason we’re not coming out, we’re not ready to go in the first four minutes.”
Keylan Boone, Kalib’s twin brother, did all of his damage from the outside. All five of his made buckets were from 3-point territory as he finished with 17 points and five assists.
Pitino said UNM will focus on getting more production out of its shooters in the future. The Lobos made only two 3s on 11 attempts. Keylan Boone took 11 attempts by himself.
“We’re not getting enough of them,” Pitino said. “We’ve got guys who’ve got to shoot them, knock them down.”
NOTES
The Lobos will play their next two games in The Pit, each of them against teams in the Top 25. It starts with Saturday’s game against No. 19 San Diego State and includes a visit next week from No. 20 Utah State. … San Diego State was the only road team to pick up a win in MWC play Tuesday night, holding off San Jose State 81-78 in a game that tipped off at 9 p.m. There have been only four road wins in conference play thus far. … Utah State, Nevada, San Diego State and Boise State are the only undefeated teams left after a week and a half in league play.