LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The New Mexico men’s basketball team completed the first half of the conference schedule Saturday with a 75-73 victory over UNLV at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Lobos (17-4, 9-1 MW) overcame a late two-point deficit to defeat the Runnin’ Rebels (11-9, 5-4 MW) and record their first road win in the series since 2018.

Donovan Dent and Nelly Junior Joseph led the Lobos in the victory. Dent had 34 points, his most against a conference opponent, to post his third 30-point game of the season. Joseph had his 10th double-double of the year with 22 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lobos got off to a quick start, leading 14-7 after the opening five minutes of play. The Runnin’ Rebels tied the game, 16-16, with 11:15 left in the half after a 9-2 run. UNM led 20-16 at the midway point of the half and held a 26-21 lead with 7:45 to play. The lead grew to 31-23 with 4:30 left before UNLV tied the game at 37-37 with 1:05 to go. The game would go to halftime tied at 39-39, as Dent had 18 first-half points to lead the Lobos.

In the second half, the teams traded the lead for several minutes with the game tied at 49-49 with 15:00 to play. UNM took a 58-53 lead with 11:30 to play and held a 60-56 at the midway point and led 66-63 with 7:00 left. UNLV took a 72-70 lead with 3:12 left before Dent tied the game from the line with 2:46 to go. A Joseph putback gave UNM a 74-72 lead with 2:05 to play, a lead they held with 23 seconds left as UNLV had the ball. The Rebels were fouled with 1.3 seconds to play with a chance to tie the game. After making the first, Dedan Thomas, Jr. missed the second and Joseph grabbed the board to seal the win. He was fouled with 0.5 left and made the first shot to make the final score 75-73 before intentionally missing the second.

LOBO NOTES
• Dent’s 34 points were most by a Lobo in a Mountain West road game since Jaelen House scored 42 points at Air Force in 2022
• Dent had a season-low two assists, ending a streak where he was the only player in the nation to have at least 10 points and four assists in every game this season
• Filip Borovicanin led UNM in assists with three, the first game all season that Dent did not lead the Lobos in assists
• Dent’s 18 first-half points were most by a Lobo in the first half since Jaelen House had 26 first-half points vs. New Mexico State (Dec. 2, 2023)
• It was UNM’s seventh Quad 2 victory of the season and eighth Quad 1/2 win of the year, matching its total from all of 2023-24

QUOTABLE
“That was an incredible second half and a huge win. Donovan, offensively, was phenomenal. Nelly was a hero, 18 rebounds and did some amazing things. Donovan and DJ Thomas, those are two of the better point guards you will ever see and they both showed it today. UNLV is really good and we just had to find a way to get a win. It was one of those games when we weren’t making a lot of shots and the first half was choppy with all the free throws. We were great at the rim today and that was a big reason why we won.” – Richard Pitino

UP NEXT
The Lobos will have a week off before visiting Utah State (8-1 MW) next Saturday. New Mexico returns home to host Colorado State (6-2 MW) on Feb. 5. Tickets for that game are on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets.