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Game Recap: No. 6 New Mexico 82, No. 11 Air Force 56
Freshman duo of Toppin & Washington help spark huge offensive outing.
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New Mexico displays impressive start to the tournament with 26-point win over Air Force in the 1st round.
Las Vegas, NV–The annual Mountain West pilgrimage was in full swing Wednesday. With fans from the every corner of the conference making the trip to Las Vegas for what could be one of the more competitive iterations of the tournament in recent memory.
The Mountain West has seven or so contenders this year. With the very real possibility of six or given the right circumstances, seven teams who could go dancing on Sunday. But before that can occur, there is a small matter of business to attend to inside the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday.
Richard Pitino’s squad has embodied the gauntlet the conference has developed into this past season. A squad that handed several teams that finished in the top-half of the conference standings losses throughout the regular season but fell victim to the same competitiveness multiple times.
They like several others have the potential to cut the nets down on Saturday, though they have to drive past their first opponent in what could be a very long four days in Vegas, the Air Force Falcons. A team that got the better of the Lobos inside their home fortress back in February, who can also score with the best of them given the right conditions.
The Lobos got things started quickly as normal. Taking the early 7-5 lead with scoring from three different players until Mountain West Freshman of the Year JT Toppin began his night. Scoring the next seven New Mexico points and paving the way for a 12-2 run for the, extending their lead to 22-9 approaching the ten minute mark of the first half.
That cushion created early on would be key for Richard Pitino’s group. As the Lobos managed to hold off an 8-0 run from the Falcons approaching the five minute mark in the half, cutting the deficit to just 10 at 36-26.
As New Mexico looked like they had cooled down in the closing minutes of the half, Jaelen House took over. Scoring 7 of his team’s next 13 points to extend their lead to a whopping 49-30 as House treated the cherry & silver ladened crowd to a three point buzzer beater.
https://twitter.com/MountainWest/status/1768062968489762913?t=i44nKAb0lTFu25i9rpzLzw&s=19
Second Half
Toppin picked up right where he left off in the first half, as he opened the scoring for New Mexico with his first three pointer of the game. Doing work in the post also, with back-to-back Lobo field goals around the rim. Outscoring the Falcons 7-3 in the opening five minutes of the second half.
The Lobos ended a scoring drought of their own when Amzil was sent to the free throw line to drain a pair of free throws. With freshman Tru Washington driving to the basket for his first field goal of the half with plenty more to come. As the game approached the ten minute mark in the second half, the Lobos found themselves up a comfortable 63-35.
Donovan Dent sliced through the lane for another layup before the ten minute mark. Washington would do his best anything you can do impression with another layup to add to his 9 second half points. Mashburn Jr. scored his 10th point of the contest with one of his famous rise and fire mid-range jumpers to extend the Lobo lead to 67-38. Air Force didn’t have the offensive form to ever catch up though.
https://twitter.com/UNMLoboMBB/status/1768073062967374035?t=QFbDnTBSL5-iTMQJCLX_sg&s=19
Washington stayed out for blood, with another dunk in transition. Redshirt freshman Quinton Webb got in on the action with a dunk off of the bench. Before a Luke Kearney three pointer put an end to the small Lobo run.
With New Mexico taking their largest lead of the game of 35 points (75-40), approaching the five minute mark of the contest. The lopsided offensive performance continued from there.
Under the five minute mark, the exchange of buckets slowly picked up again as Air Force finally found their offensive footing a little too late in the second half. Pitino had seen enough from his team & dug deeper into his bench under the three minute mark, getting his last few starters off the floor.
The Lobos secured the 82-56 first round win over Air Force on Wednesday afternoon. Using their strong first half to avenge their conference home loss to the Falcons last month. The 26-point win was the largest margin of victory inside the Thomas & Mack Center in the first round.
The freshman duo of JT Toppin (18 points, 11 rebounds) & Tru Washington (14 points in 21 minutes off of the bench) led the way for New Mexico. With Jaelen House (16 points, all in first half) & Jamal Mashburn Jr. (10 points) joining them in double figures.
Richard Pitino’s group utilized great offensive creativity & ball control (21 assists/9 turnovers) & a solid shooting performance from the floor 32-68 (47.1%) & 12-13 from the free throw line (92.3%) in the win.
Player Spotlights
New Mexico F–JT Toppin
Stat line: 18 points, 11 rebounds & 2 steals on 8-12 (66.6%) from the floor & 1-1 (60%) from deep in just 22 minutes of action
The lopsided Lobo win was certainly a team effort, but Toppin looked a cut above the rest in terms of how effortless & impactful his scoring was from the opening tip. New Mexico will need him if they plan to make a run all the way to Saturday’s title game, not a bad first conference tournament game if I say so myself.
https://twitter.com/UNMLoboMBB/status/1768067966665654675?t=pZu8947WRqCLkg_K6BEkeQ&s=19
Air Force G-Rytis Petraitis
Stat line: 26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals & 9 assists on 9-13 shooting (69.2%) from the floor, 2-3 (66.6%) from deep in 38 minutes of play
Petraitis has been fun to watch all season. Steadily evolving his game & impact for the Falcons all season to a level only a handful of players in the Mountain West play at every week. While the rest of his team failed to find their footing in Las Vegas, Petraitis looked primed to compete. I hope he remains in Colorado Springs next season, he has All-Mountain West written all over him.
Next Up:
With their first win of the tournament, the Lobos advance to face No. 3 seed Boise State, whom New Mexico was swept by in the regular season. With the added day of rest & a dominant trio of big men, the Broncos are surely one of New Mexico’s white whales from the regular season to overcome.
That quarterfinal matchup will tip-off at 9:30 PM MT and can be watched on the CBS Sports Network.
Larry Muniz covers college basketball as a writer for Mountain West Wire and WAC Hoops Digest. Also as a co-host of the college basketball podcast “Hoops Talk W/Jay & Larry”. He is also a USWBA Member.