‘IT’S A TOUGH LOSS’
No. 25 UNM gets swept by UNLV 80-77 in The Pit
ALBUQUERQUE — The Lobos have met their mirror image, and what’s staring back is a team that simply has their number.
Behind an outstanding effort from freshman point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., the UNLV men’s basketball team completed a regular season sweep of No. 25 New Mexico with an 80-77 win before a Saturday night sellout crowd in The Pit.
Thomas outplayed his counterpart, Lobos senior Jaelen House, pouring in a game-high 25 points to go with four assists and two back-breaking free throws in the closing seconds to secure the upset. Time and again he was lined up against House and twice hit one-on-one buckets within a few feet of the rim deep in the second half when the game was still in doubt.
That was the story of the night, not just between House and Thomas.
A bigger, deeper team whose starting lineup offers a considerable size advantage over UNM’s backcourt, UNLV was better at doing what the Lobos do best — wreaking havoc in transition and converting buckets in the low post. The Rebels (13-9, 6-4 Mountain West) outscored the Lobos (19-5, 7-4) by a 48-26 in the paint.
Many of those were a credit to UNLV keeping possessions alive by using its size advantage.
“Me and Mash gotta do a better job boxing out the 2 and 3 down there,” said UNM point guard Donovan Dent, referring to the play of he and fellow guard Jamal Mashburn Jr.
The pair was assigned the task of keeping tabs with Rebels guards Luis Rodriguez, a 6-foot-6 combo guard and the 6-8 Keylon Boone, a hybrid shooting guard and small forward. Both had seven rebounds with a combined half dozen coming on the offensive glass.
UNLV opened the game on a tear, taking a 16-4 lead. The Lobos cut it to a one-possession game before the Rebels again stretched it out. A UNM rally to close the half gave ithe Lobos a 40-39 lead at the break, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
For every rally the Lobos had, UNLV had an answer.
“It felt like a similar game to Boise State,” said UNM coach Richard Pitino. “It felt very, very similar where we just couldn’t make enough shots and they were making better plays than we were.”
Unlike the teams’ first meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., Saturday’s game wasn’t a
3-point barrage for the Rebels. They attempted just eight shots from beyond the arc, making two. Nearly everything they did came within 10 feet of the basket.
Doing so prevented the long rebounds which, in turn, didn’t give the Lobos much of a chance to get out and run.
“That was a little different feel because, you know, the firepower,” UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said. “Every time we would go on a run, you would just be kind of hoping, let’s try and get two more. Let’s try and get two more. Let’s see if we can get this further because you know they’re going to go on a run. They have a bunch of firepower, and they went on runs, and I was just proud of our guys. They could have folded and they didn’t.”
The game was tied at 72 after two House free throws with 1:30 left, but a hook shot by Kalib Boone broke the tie with 1:08 left, and a missed Mashburn jumper set the stage for the Rebels to burn the shot clock down and have Thomas draw a foul on House with 23 seconds left.
His two free throws all but iced it.
Dent and House both finished with 20 points but Dent was clearly hobbled by a hip injury early in the first half and a slight ankle tweak to start the second half.
He immediately brushed off both in a lightning-quick postgame news conference that lasted less than two minutes
Hiding his face as he sat down to address the media, he said the next week is huge for his team.
UNM heads out on the road for games at Nevada and San Diego State, a pair of games that will determine its status as Mountain West contender or simply a team playing for a decent seed at the upcoming conference tournament.
“Stay together, stay positive,” Dent said. “It’s a tough loss; hurts a lot. Go on the road, get two big road wins. [It] erases this.”
Pitino lauded the sellout crowd and said this is no time for anyone to feel sorry for themselves.
There’s not much his team can do against a bigger, more aggressive team at the guard slots.
“We’ll get ’em back,” he said. “We want it to sting, we want it to hurt, right? I mean, it is, but we’re still sitting 19-5, 7-4, so we’ve got a great opportunity on Tuesday [at Nevada].”
NOTES
Brick city: House and Mashburn combined to miss 23 of their 30 shot attempts. House was a perfect 10-for-10 at the line, but that many missed shots is tough to overcome.
“Yeah, it’s hard when you do but they’re great scorers and they’ve made those shots before,” Pitino said. “They’ve earned the right, certainly.”
No-show: Lobos center Nelly Junior Joseph played 25-plus minutes but attempted only two shots and grabbed seven rebounds. He also had three turnovers.
Sixth man: Forward Mustapha Amzil had 10 points and a team-high four assists off the bench for the Lobos. He, Tru Washington and House each had two 3-pointers.
Disappearing depth: The Lobos only played eight men, and one of them was senior guard Jermarl Baker Jr.
He got only six minutes and never attempted a shot. His stat line was full of zeroes; no shots, no rebounds, no assists, no turnovers, no free throw attempts.