Lobo offense struggles as Nevada gets revenge

Isabel Gonzalez
@cisabelg

A Nevada and New Mexico encounter once again ended in a blow out result. This time there weren’t any underdog surprises as the No. 6 Wolf Pack got its revenge by taking a 91-62 victory on Saturday afternoon.

With this result, Nevada improved to 23-1 overall and 10-1 in the Mountain West conference. The Wolf Pack hasn’t lost at home in 367 days. New Mexico dropped to 10-13 overall and 4-7 in the conference.

Head coach Eric Musselman and select players speak to the media after Saturday's win over New Mexico. https://t.co/FeW3oK5sps

— Nevada Basketball (@NevadaHoops) February 10, 2019

Nevada shot at 50 percent from the field. A total of six players, including all five starters, saw double digits. Caleb Martin and Trey Porter led the team with 20 points each.

Jordan Caroline recorded his 15th double double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds. He has scored in double digits in each of the 24 games for Nevada this season.

Meanwhile, the New Mexico offense struggled the entire night. By the 11:57 timeout the Lobos had six turnovers, which was more than the points they had as they trailed 22-4. It wasn’t surprising as they were shooting at 13.3 percent from the field. The first half ended at 27.78 percent.

The second half saw improvement at 40 percent from the field. While New Mexico saw 14 turnovers in the first half, the team only had six in the second. However, The Wolf Pack took advantage of turnovers throughout the game and scored 22 points off of them.

Two Lobos saw double digits with sophomore Makuach Maluach leading with 19 points and redshirt junior Carlton Bragg following with 13. During the post game press conference, Nevada head coach Eric Musselman said the team focused on guarding Lobo senior Anthony Mathis. This worked, as Mathis only scored six points in the 21 minutes he was on the court.

Maluach with the offensive board – and the THREE! Maluach leads the Lobos with 12 points in the first half. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/inmHYFUXti

— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) February 10, 2019

When it comes to turnovers, Nevada didn’t have a particularly good game either. The Wolf Pack had 17, the most they’ve had this season. However, the Lobos were only able to get nine points from these.

Box score.

Up next, New Mexico has back-to-back home games starting with San José State on Wednesday and Fresno State on Saturday.