sports@dailylobo.com
Despite 24 points apiece from Kendall Williams and Cameron Bairstow, the New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered its second loss of the season with Saturday’s 80-63 setback to No. 13 Kansas in Kansas City.
The Jaywawks (7-3) avoided a three-game losing streak by outscoring UNM 41-25 in the second half and breaking open a close game. Kansas held a one-point lead heading into halftime and used a 10-2 run to build a 49-40 advantage, controlling the tempo for the remainder of the game.
Williams converted a four-point play at one point to cut the deficit to 63-58, the closest second-half margin. The Lobos had only one field goal in the game’s final eight minutes.
UNM (7-2) kept pace with Kansas through the first half and trailed 39-38 after an Arthur Edwards layup in the final second. Alex Kirk sat on the bench for most of the first half after picking up two fouls in the first four minutes.
No Lobo besides Williams and Bairstow scored more than five points, and the team shot 33 percent from the field (18 of 54).
Perry Ellis paced Kansas’s scorers with 21 points, followed by Joel Emiid with 18, Andrew Wiggins with 11 and Wayne Selden Jr. with 10. As a team, Kansas converted on 51.9 percent from the field (28 of 54).
The Lobos return to action Tuesday with a home game against New Mexico State. UNM won this season’s earlier Rio Grande Rivalry game 79-70 on Dec. 4.
