PHOTO BY JOE GRIMANDO

Reno, Nevada- The UNM Lobos (21-7, 12-5) suffered a costly road loss to the Nevada Wolf Pack (19-9, 11-6) Feb. 24. Now, they are 1.5 games behind conference-leader Utah State (23-4, 13-3) with three games left to go.  

The final: UNM 60, Nevada 67. 

The Lobos three-game winning streak was snapped at Lawlor Events Center behind some offensive struggles. 

“I just thought we had too many empty possessions and couldn’t get enough stops, and that’s a tough combination. We had plenty of chances and we weren’t able to capitalize on those opportunities and they were able to. That was the difference,” UNM head coach Eric Olen said. 

Now, Nevada wasn’t lights out offensively either but they did enough to secure the win. The Wolf Pack edged the Lobos in boards, assists, blocks, and free throws. 

The Wolf Pack were 16-for-22 from free throw land while the Lobos were 12-for-21. Though Tomislav Buljan racked up 12 boards for UNM, he only made one of his five free throw attempts. 

UNM’s Antonio Chol, Luke Haupt, and Uriah Tenette combined for 13 points, and were 4-for-21 on field goals. For reference, Chol was scoreless, Haupt was 0-for-5 on field goals, and Tennette was one-for-six from beyond the arc. 

Jake Hall and Deyton Albury were the top-2 point scorers with Hall scoring 17 points while Albury scored 13 points. However, both combined for eight turnovers, five of them coming from Albury. 

As for Nevada, they had three players score at least 20 points: Elijah Price (21), Corey Camper Jr. (20), and Vaughn Weems (20). The trio were also active in the paint, and combined for 26 rebounds; each secured at least one offensive rebound. 

With less than 10 minutes to go, the Lobos were up 52-46. That’s when Steve Alford’s bunch went on a stampede, and closed the game with a 21-8 run. 

Since losing to San Jose State Feb. 17, Nevada has topped two of the top three teams in the Mountain West. The Wolf Pack will look to keep the momentum rolling for a road-matchup against in-state rival, UNLV (14-13, 9-7).

As for Coach Olen’s bunch, the focus shifts over to a prime-time, and sold out, matchup against San Diego State (18-8, 12-4) at The Pit. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. MT, and it’ll be the “last dance” for THE greatest rivalry in the Mountain West, SDSU departs for the Pac-12 next year. 

CPS Players of the Game

UNM Lobos: freshman guard Jake Hall- “Better Call Hall” put up 17 points which set a new record in the Mountain West for the most points scored by a freshman in a season. The previous record was 278 (set by UNLV’s Brandon McCoy), and Hall has 291 points; and counting

Nevada Wolf Pack: sophomore forward Elijah Price- Price recorded a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds, and logged four blocks. The sophomore also had a team-high three offensive rebounds, and scored the points that put them ahead of UNM with four minutes left.