Another road trip, another two losses for New Mexico.
The Lobos’ woes away from WisePies Arena continued Tuesday night in an 86-69 loss at Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colorado. The latest setback marked the 10th loss outside Albuquerque’s city limits, including seven losses in true road games.
UNM (16-12, 9-6 MW) struggled in particular with its inside presence. CSU outscored the Lobos by a 36-26 margin in points in the paint. It makes three straight games where opponents bested the Lobos’ scoring in the low post.
Rebounding from three straight losses following its controversial win over Boise State on Feb. 10, CSU also fared better than New Mexico in its offensive rebounding. The Rams turning 15 boards into 21 second-chance points, while UNM hit nine points on nine O-rebounds.
The Rams (15-14, 7-8 MW) opened the game with seven straight points before New Mexico responded with an 11-0 run. Four straight CSU points knotted the game early at 11 points. UNM built a first-half lead to 21-15, but the Rams used another 7-0 run to pull ahead again. CSU then held a 37-31 halftime margin.
New Mexico never regained the lead in the second half as Colorado State’s 3-point shooting improved. The Rams made seven of their first 10 attempts from long range out of the halftime. Neither team made more than 28 percent of its 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
Ever-consistent Lobo scorer Tim Williams added another double-digit performance with 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting. Guard Elijah Brown mustered 16 points despite struggling shooting night where he made five of his 16 attempts. Cullen Neal also scored 10 points.
As a team UNM finished 47.9 from the field 23 of 48
Colorado State countered with four double-figure scorers from starters Antwan Scott Emmanuel Omogbo, 18 points apiece, and Tiel Daniels, 16 points. Omogbo completed a double-double with a game-high 13 boards.
Reserve John Gillon netted 18 points for CSU. He accounted for all CSU’s bench points and scored double the amount of UNM’s backups.
The Rams were 48.5 percent on field goals (32 of 66).
The Lobos return to Albuquerque for its final home games against Fresno State and league leader San Diego State with its regular-season finale at Nevada.
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J.R. Oppenheim is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s basketball and women’s soccer. Contact him at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JROppenheim.
