With an NCAA tournament berth on the line in the closing final stretch of Mountain West play, the Lobos, who are on the bubble of getting an at-large bid into the tournament, were able to avoid a stain on their resume on Tuesday, Feb. 17, as the University of New Mexico put up a dominant performance against the Air Force Falcons, winning 98-61.
The win completed the season sweep against the Falcons and gave the Lobos their 20th win of the season, which allowed Lobo Head Coach Eric Olen to join Norm Ellenberg, Dave Bliss, Steve Alford and Craig Neal as the fifth Lobo head coach to win 20 games in their first season with the program.
“It is important in situations like this to play good basketball throughout the game. I thought we did that tonight for the most part,” Olen said.
Forward Antonio Chol led the Lobos, scoring a season high 20 points in the Lobo win, going 7 of 13 from the field, 5 of 10 from three, and picked up 5 rebounds. Three other Lobos joined Chol in scoring double figures against the Falcons including guard Deyton Albury with 14 points, guard Jake Hall with 16 points and center JT Rock with 12 points.
The win allowed the Lobos to move into third place in the Mountain West Standings — as a result, UNM was able to stay in the hunt for the regular-season title as the Lobos remain 1.5 games behind the first-place team, the Utah State University Aggies. The Lobos still have rematches against the Aggies and second-place San Diego State University Aztecs, which will be pivotal to the Mountain West Standings and the Lobos’ chances of getting into the NCAA tournament.
The Lobos were able to start the game on an 8-2 run after guard Luke Haupt took it to the basket for a layup, sparking the Lobos’ offense after Air Force scored the first basket of the game.
UNM and the Falcons would battle for the first 12 minutes of the game, but the Lobos would prove to be too tough for the shorthanded Falcons, who were without their top two rebounders and Head Coach Joe Scott, who has been suspended for the past nine games due to an investigation into conduct.
The Lobos — who had the hot hand tonight — would go on to outscore the Falcons in the next 28 minutes of the game, shooting 55% throughout the game, 48% from the three and outrebounded the Falcons by a margin of 48 to 23.
The Lobos will be back on the road for the next two games. They take on the Fresno State University Bulldogs on the road at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California on Saturday, Feb. 21, and have a return game in Reno against Steve Alford's University of Nevada Wolfpack on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Wyatt S. Padilla is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @wyattspadilla
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