Lobos overcome Boise State 81-79 in overtime

Jan. 21—ALBUQUERQUE

They used to call them "Pit games."

The power of the arena made famous by Lobos basketball has been known to carry the cherry and silver through the rough times, somehow prodding the Lobos to do things they'd never be able to do on the road.

With its back to the wall at the midway point of a Friday night slugfest with conference-leading Boise State, the University of New Mexico rallied to a heart-pounding 81-79 overtime win in a nationally televised game in which the announced crowd of 14,566 had a clear impact.

Down six at the half and as many as eight in the game, the Lobos soaked in the power of The Pit. It sparked guard Jaelen House in the second half and turned the interior duo of Josiah Allick and Morris Udeze into knuckle-dragging monsters who, at times, carried the load when all else seemed to fail.

It was Udeze's layup off an inbounds pass from Donovan Dent with 2.6 seconds left in OT that proved to be the difference. It capped a wild night where two of the top teams in the Mountain West traded one haymaker after another, the game getting decided when the last man standing landed the biggest blow of all.

"I'm not just saying this, that was the loudest building I've ever been in," said Lobos coach Richard Pitino. "By far, not even close."

Above all else, The Pit has breathed new life into a program that now finds itself on the doorstep of first place in the conference, a top-heavy league that is a week away from its midway point. The Lobos, 18-2 for just the fourth time in school history, are 5-2 in MWC play, half a game behind first-place San Diego State and in a tie with Boise State and Nevada for second.

After an early loss at home to UNLV, the Lobos appear to have weathered the storm to remain in the race. Pitino said the fans have a lot to do with that.

"Our fans were amazing," Pitino said. "I felt horrible when we lost to UNLV, the way they showed out. This was — how many places get these fans at 9 o'clock on a Friday night? I don't know if they were boozed up because it was so late, but more power to them."

The Pit literally had to work overtime in Friday's game as the fans (and Lobos) survived a thriller against the defending conference champions. Like a closer coming out of the bullpen in a tight spot, the crowd provided the fuel necessary to get their team to the finish line.

UNM scored the first five points in OT and never trailed — but it wasn't easy. The Broncos (15-5, 5-2) fought back to tie it in the final 30 seconds before Udeze's heroics.

Pitino knew the Broncos would be focused on Mashburn coming out of an inbounds pass along the baseline with five seconds left. That said, he told inbounder Donovan Dent to keep an eye on Udeze cutting through the lane as the play developed. That's exactly what happened, sending the crowd into a frenzy — and again moments later when a desperation heave by Marcus Shaver at the buzzer was well off the mark.

"I thought Donovan made a great play," Pitino said.

Pitino said he wanted to have his team foul the first Boise State player to touch the ball after Mashburn hit a pair of free throws to give the Lobos a 72-69 lead with four seconds left in regulation. Needing a 3-pointer to tie, the Broncos got just that when Tyson Degenhart nailed a 3-ball with just under three seconds left.

Degenhart finished with 28 points and the Broncos' Max Rice had 17.

The Lobos got 25 from Mashburn while Udeze had 15. Allick had a career-high 18 rebounds to go with eight points while House, who was held scoreless for the first 18 minutes and sat on the bench for five minutes early in the second half after picking up his third foul.

House rallied to score 16, each bucket bigger than the last as his revival coincided with the frenetic finish that rose the arena's decibel meter over 110 several times in the second half and OT.

Averaging more than 17 points a game coming in, the 6-foot senior was his usual self when it mattered most, hitting a pair of short jumpers after reentering the game with 12 minutes left in regulation, the banging in a 3-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim and fell through for a 60-55 lead.

Before he came to life, the rest of the team responded in lockstep with the crowd. Udeze threw down a pair of monster dunks while Allick was in on what felt like nearly every key rebound.

Then there was the ever-steady Mashburn, the league's top scorer who never wavers in stressful moments.

NOTES

The Lobos are second among Mountain West schools in total attendance for home games, trailing San Diego State by about 1,300 fans per game. Since conference play began, however, UNM is the leader with an average of over 14,000 through the first four games.

Up Next Monday: New Mexico (18-2, 5-2 MWC) at Nevada (15-5, 5-2), 7 p.m. in Reno, Nev. TV: CBS-Sports Network Radio: KKOB-FM (96.3) Live stats: www.GoLobos.com/mbbstats