Jan. 13—They earned their stripes on Saturday.
Feeding off a sold-out Pit crowd and a nationally televised audience watching on CBS, the Lobos turned a 12-point first half deficit into a monstrous 88-70 statement win over No. 19 San Diego State — the defending Mountain West champion and national runners up — to claim their first Quad 1 victory of the season.
And while Lobos coach Richard Pitino also had plenty of praise for the “total team effort” he felt his team put forth to secure the win — four players scored in double figures, the Lobos tied a program record with 14 blocks, added eight steals, and held the Aztecs to 40.6% shooting — he made sure first statement after the game was to the announced 15,437 red and white wearing fans that seemed to have as much to do with the win as anyone.
“First and foremost, the 15,437, I can’t tell you thank you enough,” Pitino said. “We have recruits watching in the building. Our players are going to talk about these type of moments for the rest of their lives. I mean, I had times I’m on the bench where I’m like, don’t start crying because it’s so special. That’s what I truly felt. It’s a special, special building. It is the most underrated fan base in college basketball, and we were able to do it on the biggest stage versus a terrific program.”
The Lobos, who have been treated kindly by the computer metrics despite not having a strong strength of schedule to date and who were coming off a disheartening 10-point loss on Tuesday at UNLV, improved to 14-3 overall and 2-2 in a crowded Mountain West race.
The Aztecs (14-3), meanwhile, had their eight-game win streak snapped and fall to 3-1 in league play.
Saturday’s game, with the stripe out theme going in the stands, was running hot from the opening tip.
The Lobos’ intense defense and the Aztecs‘ always-physical style of play was wreaking havoc on the officiating crew, who got very little right in the eyes of the Lobo fans present in the Pit or to the droves of Aztecs fans watching from home and commenting on social media.
The physical game favored the visitors early, as the Lobos hit just 7 of their first 25 shots (28%) over the first 14 minutes and when a Reese Waters 3-pointer went in with 5:46 remaining in the opening half, SDSU was leading by a dozen, 35-23, with anxiety growing in the arena.
Then, lightning rod fifth-year Lobo point guard Jaelen House took over.
The 6-foot guard scored 11 consecutive points to kick start a 17-0 scoring run that flipped the game from that 12-point deficit to a 40-35 Lobos advantage with 50 seconds remaining in the half.
UNM, which led 40-37 at halftime, never looked back.
Over the course of the first and second half, the run actually grew to 24-5 over a 7-minute, 30-second run.
“I thought we played a competitive first half. Our defense, our game plan looked pretty good. I think they shot (35.3%) in the first half and we tried to pack the paint to make (them make) 3s and tough pullups, and they didn’t make any,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “In the second half, it seems like they made every one of them. Especially the pullup jump shot. We tried to make an adjustment late. But it was too late. So, hats off to the Lobos. They’ve done what they were supposed to do — they held home court in the Mountain West.”
UNM is 9-0 home and 2-0 in the Pit in league play, where they host No. 20 Utah State (16-1, 4-0 MW) on Tuesday.
House finished the night with 26 points that came on 7-of-16 shooting (4-of-9 from 3-point range and a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line) to go along with 5 assists and three steals.
Lobo freshman JT Toppin added 17 points, 16 rebounds (the most by a Lobo freshman since Kenny Thomas has 17 in the 1996 WAC championship-game) and five blocked shots.
Lobo center Nelly Junior Joseph added five blocks to an eight-rebound game. Jamal Mashburn Jr. added 19 points and Mustapha Amzil added 12 off the bench.
On the other end, UNM’s defense on Jaedon LeDee, who was tied for fifth in the nation in scoring at 22 points per game entering the Pit on Saturday, led San Diego State with 15 points, but did so on a less-than-his-usual dominant fashion, picking up several of those late when the game had already been decided.
BLOCKOUT: New Mexico set a team record with 14 blocked shots in the Mountain West era (their previous record was 12 versus UNLV in 1999-2000 season). The Lobos recorded 11 of those blocks in the first half. Nelly Junior Joseph and Toppin each swatted five shots.
SELLOUT: The 15,437 people who attended was the most to see a basketball game in the Pit since the 2008-09 season before a renovation dropped capacity to a listed 15,411.
This is the fourth time in the past two seasons the announced attendance actually exceeded that 15,411 mark.
STRIPE-OUT: The Lobos asked fans to wear red or white shirts, depending on which section they sat in, and for the most part they complied, creating a “stripe out” affect through the arena. Take a look:
