Major disappointment: Lobos fall to UNLV before Pit throng of 15,424

Jan. 8—There was magic in the Pit on Saturday night. It just wasn't enough to overcome the desperation and dominant second half of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels.

The visitors weathered an early Pit storm from the announced crowd of 15,424 — the first sellout in the building since March 2015 — to quiet the building and shock the No. 21 New Mexico Lobos, 84-77.

"Credit to UNLV. They were terrific offensively. We were pretty poor defensively in the second half," said Lobos coach Richard Pitino. "And you know, they went and got it. (E.J.) Harkless was terrific in the second half."

The Lobos (14-2, 2-2 MWC), coming off their first loss of the season Tuesday at Fresno State, used the energy of that Pit crowd to jump out to an 8-0 lead and led by as many as 12 in the first half before UNLV (11-3, 1-2) settled down, and the Lobos lost their rhythm.

"It's one of the best venues and atmospheres in college basketball," UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said. "And I think it just got everybody going from there at the start. We got off to a little bit of a slow start but the guys took a deep breath."

And the free throw line that had been UNM's biggest weapon all season, taking and making more than all but a handful of teams in the country failed them on Saturday. UNM was just 14-of-22 (63.6%), and missed three in the final 1:39 of a tight game.

But the Lobos had their chances. Their last big break that went for naught came with 22.5 ticks left.

Harkless fouled Jamal Mashburn Jr. shooting a 3-pointer — putting the Lobos' best free throw shooter at the charity stripe for three attempts with UNLV leading 80-76.

The foul sent the Rebels' leading scorer to the bench, fouling out with a game-high 25 points and five assists.

But Mashburn (19 points in a season-low 21 minutes, 28 seconds) missed two of the three free throws, and UNM never did have a good shot at tying the game after that.

The Rebels opened the second half on a 9-0 run, capped by a Luis Rodriguez bucket with 17:32 left to put UNLV up 47-43 — a hole UNM never dug out of.

Jaelen House, Mashburn and backup freshman guard Donovan Dent were all limited in the first half due to each picking up two fouls. While Pitino did play House and Mashburn off and on late in the half with offense/defense substitutions, neither had regular run in much of either half because of the fouls and House's erratic play in the second half.

The Lobos starting five, which made its 16th consecutive start together in 16 Lobo games this season, played only minutes, 5 seconds together the entire game. For context, four nights earlier at Fresno State the starters played 20:03 together.

And with the Lobo guards out of their regular rotation, UNLV was able to hang close, cutting what had been a 26-14 UNM lead with 8:57 left in the half to 39-38 on a Rodriguez corner 3-pointer with 46 seconds left before the intermission.

But the Lobos answered with four points before the break, including a Morris Udeze dunk at the buzzer off UNM's fifth steal of the first half and 13th point off eight Rebel turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

It was UNM 43, UNLV 38 at halftime.

The second half, however, would be all Rebels, and lead to loss No. 2 in the week for a team that lost for only the seventh time in 129 games played as a ranked team in the Pit.

UNM got 22 points and 13 rebounds from Morris Udeze, but UNLV had five players score in double figures, and the Lobos committed 16 turnovers for the second consecutive game, and defeat.

House finished with 12 points, all in the first half, 2 assists, 4 turnovers and 4 steals.

CROWD: Saturday's was the largest announced home crowd since March 3, 2009, vs. Utah when the crowd was announced as 18,018 in the final game before the Pit renovation. Saturday was the first time since the renovation that UNM announced a crowd larger than its listed capacity of 15,411.

"That was an amazing environment," Pitino said. "Just amazing. So appreciative of the fans. .... They brought it tonight. They brought it."

NOTES: House was honored before the game for scoring his 1,000th collegiate point in the Lobos' Tuesday night game in Fresno. He is the second Lobo in recent weeks to have such a pregame recognition as Jamal Mashburn Jr. also did so by joining the 1,000 point club in a game earlier this season. ....

More than 50 former Lobo basketball players and managers were honored, but name, at halftime on Monday night.

BOX SCORE: UNLV 84, No. 21 New Mexico 77

EMPTYING THE NOTEBOOK: For more news, notes and analysis from Saturday's game, including a look at how UNM's 2ned half defense has regressed in Mountain West play, read Emptying the Notebook.

Emptying the Notebook: UNM's 2nd half defense continues to regress in MWC play

Emptying the Notebook after Saturday's UNM loss to UNLV, including a look at how the...

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