Lobos Capitalize on Cowboys Miscues
An 11-0 run to begin the second half propelled the New Mexico Lobos past the Wyoming Cowboys 75-66 in Albuquerque Wednesday night.
Wyoming (11-6, 2-2) lost despite a career-high 31 points from junior Justin James. The Pokes even out-shot the Lobos, 49 percent to 46 percent, from the field.
Turnovers proved to be an issue. Eleven turnovers by UW in the second half were turned into 15 points by New Mexico.
In a release from the university, Cowboys’ head coach Allen Edwards pointed towards his team’s defense.
"We talked about our edge and effort on the defensive end of the floor, and New Mexico came out in the second half and played well off the ball screen and made some three point shots. Our one thing we said to our guys is we need to get better on the road by working on our mental toughness going into a building like this and playing our best brand of basketball."
Antino Jackson led the Lobos with 20 points. Joe Furstinger and Makauch Maluach added 17 points apiece.
Jackson made two three’s that keyed the run at the start of the second half. New Mexico led 38-32. It remained a six-point game until a basket by James trimmed it to 48-45 with just over 11 minutes left. New Mexico responded and built their lead back to double digits, 59-49. UW closed within six on an Andrew Moemeka three-point play with about three minutes remaining, but that’s as close as the Pokes got. The Lobos closed out Wyoming with free throws.
New Mexico (8-10, 3-2) won its third home game in conference play and passed the Cowboys in the league standings.
This is only the second time in the Coach Edwards’ tenure the Cowboys lost a game after leading at halftime. The only other game was last Jan. 28, 2017 at home against Boise State.
UW returns home to face rival Colorado State in the Border War Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium. The game will be televised by CBS Sports Network.