On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Rio Grande Rivalry was put to the forefront as the New Mexico State University Aggies traveled up from Las Cruces to face the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team at The Pit, resulting in an 89-83 loss for the Lobos.
The game was sold out as fans flooded in to see how it would unfold. The Lobos came into the game after their win against San Jose State, while the Aggies came in on a five-game losing streak.
The Lobos started the game looking sharp; the offense looked the most consistent it had looked all year. Center Nelly Junior Joseph began dominating down low early on.
Guard Braden Appelhans also chimed in, as he had a great half coming off the bench. Appelhans had the hot hand as he shot an efficient 4-5 from the field in the first half, with three of those shots coming from the 3 point line.
With that start, the Lobos were able to build a 14-point lead. As time wound down in the half, the Aggies went on a run. The consistency the Lobos had on the offensive side of the ball faded away when the Aggies went on the run, and the presence the Lobos had on defense vanished.
The Aggies took a 47-38 lead going into the half.
Coming into the second half, the Lobos still seemed rattled from the run made by the Aggies. The Lobos were shooting terribly from everywhere on the court. Things were looking bleak for the team; with less than 10 minutes left to play, they faced a 13-point deficit.
With two minutes left, the Lobos kicked themselves back into gear. They were down by only 3 points when guard CJ Noland hit a big-time 3 to tie the game.
Then, with only three seconds left, the Lobos found themselves down by 3 points again. Appelhans shot a 3 in an attempt to take the game into overtime. The shot did not look likely to fall but was called for goaltending by New Mexico State, which took the game to overtime.
The Lobos failed to take over the game in overtime, as they were getting torched on defense. The offense lost its momentum, not being able to buy a bucket. This all culminated with the Aggies taking the victory.
The Lobos struggled on defense, especially on the perimeter. Noland said the team just couldn’t get stops.
“Offensive rebounding, easy put-backs (and) second chance points (lead) to threes, so that ultimately hurts,” Noland said.
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Starting guard Donovan Dent went to the bench early in overtime and didn’t see the court again. Head Coach Richard Pitino said it was because he was exhausted and missing shots.
“By the time we could’ve gotten him back in, we were fouling a lot,” Pitino said.
The Lobos will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, Dec. 14 when they play the Western New Mexico University Mustangs at The Pit.
Rodney Prunty is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @rprunty05
