UNM’s Drew Gordon and UNLV’s Mike Moser were supposed to face off Saturday morning in front of a nationally televised audience and a sold-out Pit — only one guy showed up to play.
The unranked Lobo men’s basketball team beat No. 11 UNLV 65-45, with a 27-point, 20-rebound performance for the ages from Gordon.
“Having a player like Drew is good for us, especially with his performance tonight,” sophomore guard Tony Snell said. “He was great.”
It is only the fifth time a player has recorded a 20-20 against a top-25 team in the last decade.
Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair last did it in 2009 against Connecticut.
Gordon, who set a career-high in points, made 13 of 20 shots for the game and scored 19 second-half points — the same number of points the entire UNLV team scored in that half.
Early on it looked like it was Mike Moser’s game to shine. UNLV’s 6-foot 8-inch sophomore forward hit two 3-pointers in the first two minutes to give the Rebels an early 6-2 lead that silenced the crowd of 15,411.
Then Moser disappeared.
He scored two more points the rest of the game — but the Lobo defense had a say in that.
After allowing the highest shooting percentage of the season to UNLV, the UNM defense suffocated the Rebels, holding them to season lows in points (45) and field goal percentages (31.1) for the game.
“I don’t know if we are the best team in this league yet, but there is no team in the last month that has guarded the way we have guarded,” Alford said.
The Lobos (22-4, 8-2 MWC) have held six of their last seven opponents to less than 55 points.
Similar to their last meeting against UNLV, the Lobos trailed close at the half — but this time, UNM punched first.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Tied 36-36 with 12:14 left, the Lobos forced the Rebels into five turnovers and three missed field goals in a four-minute span, and went on a 16-1 run to increase their lead to 52-37.
The Rebels never responded.
Gordon said the electricity from the crowd helped put the Rebels away.
“We are playing at The Pit, and when you are not making baskets, it gets frustrating,” Gordon said. “We could see them dying a bit.”
The Rebels only made four field goals in the second half.
“I can’t thank our fans enough,” Alford said. “I was telling the CBS guys and they were agreeing that this is second to none. I don’t know of a better atmosphere anywhere in the country.”
The Lobos avenged their 17-point loss to UNLV from less than a month ago — the loss that sparked UNM’s seven-game win streak.
“We gave them more competition this time around,” Snell said. “After they blew us out over there, we had to come ready to play.”
And “ready to play” is what Snell was.
After going scoreless for two straight games against San Diego State and Wyoming, Snell finished the game with 12 points from four of eight shots. He also led the team with five assists.
“He got going tonight,” Alford said. “He made a couple shots. He dunked the ball and took the ball to the basket hard. I thought he had a really special game.”
UNM outscored UNLV’s bench 14-3, most of it coming from sophomore guard Demetrius Walker’s nine points.
The Lobos finished the game, making 25-of-59 baskets for 42.4 percent.
Beating ranked teams back-to-back in one week should put UNM on the map, Gordon said.
“We’ve been overlooked this whole year,” Gordon said. “And now we should be ranked on Monday.”
