The Lobos got their 10th win of the season in a non-conference matchup with Northern New Mexico, where New Mexico walked away with an easy 78-46 win, according to golobos.com.
The Lobos were led by Jamal Mashburn Jr., who scored a game-high 21 points. Jaelen House and Jay Allen-Tovar also had solid games, posting 10 points each. Sebastian Forsling did a good job on the glass with 10 boards. Defensively it was a great performance for the Lobos, who held the Eagles to the fewest points an opponent scored in a game since 2016-17, when New Mexico beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 83-43.
“It was a good win and I am very appreciative of the fans who showed up as we threw this game together,” said head coach Richard Pitino. “We have won three-out-of-four. I think we were sleep-walking a little bit in the first half because we weren’t making shots. Some of that is we are coming off 91 points at Air Force, where we were making everything.”
The game started in surprising fashion as the Northern New Mexico squad opened up a 7-2 early. The Lobos went on a 6-0 run to go up 14-11 with about 12 minutes left in the first half. Northern New Mexico capitalized on poor Lobo shooting to take a 15-14 lead with eight minutes to go but then New Mexico went on a 10-0 run that would set the tone the rest of the way. It was 32-22 at the half with 17 points in the first half going to Mashburn.
The Lobos rode the wave into the second half with an 8-2 run and added to the lead with dunks by Allen-Tovar. The bench played most of the rest of the way for New Mexico and secured a big win.
“The guys responded well in the second half. It was good to get some of these other guys some playing time,” Pitino said. “At the end of the day, it is a 32-point victory and we got something out of it.”
This was the 23rd time in 24 games that Mashburn was in double figures scoring, and his 11th 20-point game this season.
It was a 9-for-9 showing at line for the Lobos, which was the first perfect free throw game since 2020 Mountain West Tournament against San Jose State.
New Mexico improved to 10-14 and is 2-8 in the Mountain West Conference heading into Tuesday night's game against Wyoming.