The University of New Mexico track and field team showed some teeth this weekend while competing in the Albuquerque Collegiate Classic home meet. New Mexico clocked a collection of personal bests and brought home three wins by the end of the competition at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
The University of New Mexico men's basketball team seemed to fall apart in the second half, creating a large deficit it was unable to overcome in a 82-70 road loss on Saturday evening. New Mexico (9-12, 3-6 MW) got the start it wanted. A defensive stop to begin the game, followed by a quick layup from Makuach Maluach opened the scoring for an early 2-0 lead. UNM didn't just "stay in the game" or "hang around" against the Bulldogs. The Lobos got an opportunity to do something it hasn't enjoyed often this season — play from ahead.
The University of New Mexico women's basketball team ran its current winning streak to six, fending off several runs by the Fresno State Bulldogs to take an 82-73 victory at Dreamstyle Arena. Saturday afternoon's "Pack The Pit" game accomplished its branding goal, drawing over 8,000 fans for the 2 p.m. tip. And New Mexico (18-2, 8-1 MW), perhaps drawing on some of the energy in the crowd, played really well defensively from the outset. UNM forced four missed shots and created a turnover before Nike McClure, typically a defensive specialist, secured the first bucket minute and a half into the game.
The University of New Mexico women's basketball team ran its current winning streak to six, fending off several runs by the Fresno State Bulldogs to take an 82-73 victory at Dreamstyle Arena. Saturday afternoon's "Pack The Pit" game accomplished its branding goal, drawing over 8,000 fans for the 2 p.m. tip. And New Mexico (18-2, 8-1 MW), perhaps drawing on some of the energy in the crowd, played really well defensively from the outset. UNM forced four missed shots and created a turnover before Nike McClure, typically a defensive specialist, secured the first bucket minute and a half into the game.
The University of New Mexico women's basketball team had been receiving votes in the Coaches Poll for several weeks. Now, the Lobos are getting some recognition with some nods to crack the AP Top 25 Poll. New Mexico (17-2, 7-1 MW) already have a better record than over half of the schools in the Top 25, and have a chance to put another quality win under its belt if the Lobos can take down the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday. UNM has won 16 of its last 17 games and is currently riding a five-game win streak dispatching of some of the conference's tougher opponents.
The University of New Mexico women's basketball team had been receiving votes in the Coaches Poll for several weeks. Now, the Lobos are getting some recognition with some nods to crack the AP Top 25 Poll. New Mexico (17-2, 7-1 MW) already have a better record than over half of the schools in the Top 25, and have a chance to put another quality win under its belt if the Lobos can take down the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday.
The Lobo men's basketball team overcame a sizable halftime deficit and even took a late lead — appearing to be in line for an improbable come-from-behind victory before a series of unfortunate events erased all of that. New Mexico (9-11, 3-5 MW) fell behind early — something Lobo fans have probably grown accustomed to by now — trailing 22-8 to Utah State a little more than halfway through the first half. There wasn't a lot to be cheerful about outside of a 9-0 run that encompassed back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers — one from point guard Keith McGee and a pair of triples from sophomore Makuach Maluach. That spurt and eight free throws accounted for all but 10 of New Mexico's 27 first half points. Senior guard Anthony Mathis was held scoreless, the team shot just 27.6 percent and UNM was probably fortunate to be trailing by just nine points at the half. But something happened after halftime and UNM looked like a completely different team. Head coach Paul Weir said the team spoke at halftime about playing basketball the right way — something that didn't happen in the first half. Despite what he described as looking young and not playing fundamentally sound in the opening frame, the team And for at least 20 minutes, the team exhibited the heart, grit and and passion that Lobo fans have been clamoring for all year. UNM big man Carlton Bragg poured in a turnaround jumper to open the scoring in the second half, but Utah State's Sam Merrill drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 10 points — something he and his teammates did on five more occasions over the first seven minutes or so of the second half, denying the Lobos opportunities to mount a comeback. New Mexico had played much better in the second half up to that point, but still found itself trailing 50-40 with 12:51 to play after Merrill knocked down yet another 3-pointer.
The New Mexico Women’s Basketball team went into Logan, Utah with a big opportunity in front of them, and they took advantage of it with a 68-64 win over the Utah State Aggies and reclaimed first place in the Mountain West. The Lobos entered the day tied with the Aggies for second place in the conference, one game behind the Boise State Broncos for first place, but the Broncos suffered their first loss in conference against Wyoming in Laramie.
Jay Griffin IV set a new school record for New Mexico Track and Field when he blazed the men's 200-meter run in 21.08 seconds last week at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiate Invitational last week, but left enough gas in the tank to accomplish the same feat again on Saturday. Griffin IV, a two-sport student-athlete, bested his own school record, shaving a fraction of a second off his time to clock a 21.07 run. Carlos Salcido — who had previously held the school record — finished second with a time of 21.28. Fellow two-sport student-athlete Elijah Lilly also notched a top-10 performance, finishing in 21.74 to place sixth.
The UNLV Rebels are one of only two teams in college basketball this year to come away with a win over the New Mexico Lobos, and they almost doubled up on their win in Las Vegas two weeks ago, but Katie Powell was unable to get a shot off for the Rebels down three in overtime, and the Lobos escaped with an 80-78 win in overtime. “This is UNLV. They’re hard for us to play against, hard for anybody to play against,” head coach Mike Bradbury said. “It’s hard to score against them, I thought we executed really well for the most part, and really good in overtime.” With the win, the Lobos move to 16-2 (6-1 MW) and drop the Rebels to 5-12 (3-3 MW) on the season. The Lobos retain their tie for second place with Utah State, one game behind conference leaders Boise State.
After 11 years, it’s a new era for the University of New Mexico volleyball program. Jon Newman-Gonchar was named the head coach of the Lobos, the UNM Athletics Department announced on Tuesday. Newman-Gonchar most recently served as associate head coach at Arkansas for the last three years, but has a history in college volleyball that predates that tenure.
The University of New Mexico women's basketball team played a tight one on Saturday afternoon, but overcame a late deficit to hand the Wyoming Cowgirls their first home loss of the season. New Mexico (15-2, 5-1 MW) had to withstand a 3-point barrage from its opponent — Wyoming hit 12 of them on the afternoon — as the teams traded blows in a game that featured 16 lead changes.
Wyoming has had a rough season so far and the University of New Mexico men's basketball team decided to keep things that way, crushing the Cowboys and administering a 30-point stomping to them on Saturday at Dreamstyle Arena. It was the second time in the past three games that Wyoming was on the wrong end of a one-sided game, falling by nearing an identical score against San Diego State on Jan. 8. The Cowboys lost that game 84-54 and suffered a similar fate against UNM, losing by an 83-53 margin. New Mexico ( 9-9, 3-3 MW) got off to a relatively quick start and saw all five starters score within the first six minutes of the game. A few seconds later the Lobos held their first double digit lead after senior guard Anthony Mathis buried a pair of free throws to the score 14-4 at the 13:58 mark.
The Wyoming Cowboys haven't won in conference play and have yet to win a true road game this season. On Saturday, the University of New Mexico men's basketball team will try to keep it that way. For all the recent problems the Lobos have faced, Wyoming has almost certainly had things worse. And New Mexico (8-9, 2-3 MW) probably couldn't ask for a better opponent to "get right" against and end its current three-game slide. The Lobos have an opportunity to even up both its overall record and in Mountain West play if they can secure a win against Wyoming, which is tied for last place in the conference standings.
No game is easy to win, even at The Pit. Even though the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team was able to play a near-flawless first-half against the visiting San Diego State Aztecs, basketball is still a game of trends. And despite a near-comeback from the Aztecs in the second half, which saw them outscore UNM (14-2, 4-1 MW) over the final two quarters, the Lobos turned the tide when it mattered most and sealed their 70-62 victory after scoring the final eight points of the game.
The needle seemed to be pointing straight up for the University of New Mexico men's basketball team a little over a week ago — but three straight losses has seemingly erased any memory of that figurative instrument. New Mexico had a losing record after 11 games and looked unimpressive in its non-conference slate to that point. But a blowout win over the University of the Southwest and two wins to begin Mountain West play seemed to harbor hope that the squad was beginning to come together.
The University of New Mexico women's basketball team got back in the win column after losing for the first time in nearly two months, topping the Colorado State Rams 70-58 on Saturday afternoon. New Mexico (13-2, 3-1 MW) lost for the first time since Nov. 11 after falling 66-57 to UNLV on Wednesday night, ending an 11-game winning streak. But the Lobos regained their footing by opening its two-game home stand with the win, dropping Colorado State to 1-3 in conference play and 7-8 overall. UNM head coach Mike Brabury said he was appreciative of the support from the 5,809 in attendance, especially considering the women played at the same time as an NFL playoff game and the UNM men's basketball game.
Many people are still trying to make heads or tails of the University of New Mexico men's basketball team — as the squad dropped its second consecutive conference game with a 91-76 road loss to the Colorado State Rams. New Mexico (8-8, 2-2 MW) has shown fans and basketball experts plenty of highs and lows already this season. From an unimpressive 6-6 non-conference start that included getting swept by rival New Mexico State for the second year in a row — to a 2-0 start in Mountain West play that showcased an 85-58 beatdown over then No. 6 Nevada — the Lobos have been consistently inconsistent so far.
A shoddy second half was the University of New Mexico Lobos’ demise, as it fell to the visiting UNLV Rebels 80-69 at Dreamstyle Arena on Tuesday evening despite an initially promising first half. It’s the first conference loss for the Lobos, who had won their first two Mountain West games against the likes of Air Force and then-sixth ranked Nevada. Meanwhile, for UNLV (9-6), it’s the team’s first 3-0 start in conference play in 20 years and its first win over the Lobos since the 2016-17 season.
The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team showed what it was capable of on Saturday — unceremoniously dismissing undefeated Nevada 85-58. Now the team will have to live up to the standard it set. Despite the lop-sided victory, the Lobos didn’t necessarily do anything extraordinary against the Wolfpack from a statistical standpoint. Sure, Nevada had an off night — even though New Mexico’s defense probably had something to do with it. But taking care of its own business apparently put the Lobos on the right path.
Solutions by The State News
