Bubble in danger of bursting for Lobos
UNM loses 89-79 to Boise State as MWC defeats are piling up
It took nearly a season, but the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team has finally lost two games in a row.
The timing of the mini-skid could not be worse.
The Lobos’ 89-79 loss at Boise State on Saturday night dropped them further onto NCAA Tournament bubble as Selection Sunday looms just two weeks away. At 21-8 overall and 9-7 in the Mountain West Conference, they are all but assured of missing out on a first-round bye in the conference tournament and are in danger of falling even further in the latest NET Rankings used by the section committee to determine at-large teams to the postseason.
UNM never led in the second half of Saturday’s game as Boise State’s bigger, more physical lineup never let the Lobos get into an offensive rhythm. Guard Jaelen House struggled the most, scoring just nine points — four of which came in the final minute — on 2-of-12 shooting with three fouls and a pair of turnovers.
“They were the more physical team,” said UNM guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. “They’re a well-oiled team, man, and they’ve been a well-oiled team for a long time. So when you’re not locked in, and when you’re not, you know, listening to certain game plans, they’re going to hurt you for sure.”
O’Mar Stanley and Tyson Degenhart combined for 47 points for Boise State (21-8, 12-4), which moved back into a first-place tie with idle Utah State for the MWC lead. The Aggies hold the advantage with a regular season sweep of the Broncos.
Four Boise State players finished in double figures, including 16
points from guard Max Rice. Rice was coming off a career game against the Lobos in their Jan. 31 meeting in The Pit where he scored a personal-best 35 points.
The lead exchanged hands seven times in the first half, but the Broncos took a 35-33 lead into halftime when Chibuzo Agbo converted a bucket with 39 seconds left to give his team the lead. The games was never tied again.
“I thought a lot of it was just empty possessions because of turnovers,” said UNM coach Richard Pitino. “They had a bunch of offensive rebounds. But, yeah, just turnovers. They ratcheted up the heat.”
The Lobos coughed the ball up 11 times and only forced seven turnovers. For a team that is known for creating offense with its defense, UNM only managed two points on fast breaks.
“I think the ball stopped moving,” Mashburn said. “Against this team, a good defensive team like this, you definitely got to keep flowing and keep moving to get those post feeds.”
Mashburn had 19 points while forward J.T. Toppin dropped in a team-high 21 points with eight rebounds. He and center Nelly Junior Joseph had 30 points and 20 rebounds between them.
The Lobos trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half.
The game started to get away from them in the final nine minutes when a layup by Stanley helped the Broncos go on an 8-2 run after the Lobos had gotten within 58-53.
As for House, Pitino said he had no problem with the looks he was getting.
“I was telling him, like you’re taking good shots, man,” Pitino said. “Like, knock ’em down, and he has. It’s hard when he kind of goes through that slump right there in the middle of the game. We’re trying to roll with him.”
NOTES
Missing out: Only the top five teams in the final MWC standings earn first-round byes in the conference tournament. New Mexico is in sixth place, two games out of fifth with just two games left. If the tournament started today, the Lobos would play Air Force in the first round with the winner moving on to face No. 3 Nevada in the quarterfinals.
Sliding away: UNM has lost five its last eight games and has been swept in the regular season by Boise State and UNLV. Coupled with Colorado State’s win over Wyoming on Saturday, the Lobos are only a game in front of the Rams.
Brackets: Heading into Saturday’s game, the Lobos were mentioned in all but three of the 97 NCAA Tournament brackets tracked by the website BracketMatrix.com. Every single one of them had them between a No. 8 and No. 11 seed.