The Lobos’ second game without two key starters turned out to be more difficult than expected.
New Mexico (14-10, 7-5 MW) suffered a 78-68 loss to San Jose State on Saturday evening at WisePies Arena, the Lobos’ first ever loss to the Spartans. They had previously been 11-0 against the team dating back to 1961.
The victory had some additional significance for San Jose State, as the program hasn’t reached 10 wins since the 2010-11 season. They got their 11th of the season against a team that was 9-2 at home going into Saturday’s matchup.
UNM head coach Craig Neal began the postgame interview by giving credit to the Spartans’ energy.
“You have to take your hat off to San Jose. They played well,” he said. “It was my fault, I didn’t have my team ready to play. I thought I had my team ready to play and we just didn’t come out with the fire that we’ve been playing with.”
The Spartans were the first ones to get on the board in a game that had a slow start. The score came almost two minutes into the match, but by the 16:04 mark, the Lobos were up 10-2.
New Mexico held on to the lead until the 6:43 mark, when a layup by sophomore forward Ryan Welage put the Spartans on top 21-20 after a San Jose State run. The teams traded the lead back and forth, and the half eventually ended in a 35-35 tie.
It was the same position the Lobos saw during the first half of their 80-77 victory over UNLV on Wednesday. However, the second half did not have the same outcome.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Neal said.
A dunk by sophomore guard Jaycee Hillsman gave the Spartans a 2-point lead early in the second period. He also added two more points from the foul line soon after.
The Lobos played catch-up for the entire period, tying twice but never regaining the lead. San Jose State led by as many as 13 with 5:50 remaining.
The Spartans pulled off the upset thanks to an offense that saw four players score in double figures. Welage finished with 20 points as his team shot 54 percent from the field.
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“(The Spartans) did a pretty good job making shots. If any team does that, we are not going to beat them,” Neal said. “That’s kind of been our problem all year. We gave them too many 3-point shots. There just wasn’t an urgency with our group tonight to guard. “
The Lobos could have used the defensive presence of Dane Kuiper, but he missed the game due to sustaining a broken nose and concussion. UNM was also without Tim Williams and his 18 points-per-game; the senior forward was out with a left foot injury.
On offense, New Mexico relied on Elijah Brown, who scored 21 points, and on Sam Logwood, who followed closely with 19.
The Lobos did not have as accurate shooting from the field as the Spartans, ending the night with 42 percent.
Neal said Kuiper and Williams probably would’ve made a difference in the game, but there were several other things the team could have done better to compensate for their absence.
“There’s no excuses from me,” Neal said. “I just thought our offense execution was stagnant. It wasn’t as good a pace, it wasn’t as crisp, as it’s been. It’s only the second game that we’ve had those guys out, but we are not going to make any excuses.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men’s soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports @dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
