ALBUQUERQUE – It was a tale of two halves as San Jose State men's basketball fell to New Mexico, 92-60, Wednesday night at the Pit. The Lobos shot 50 percent from the field while the Spartans were held to a 35.3 clip.
Both teams came out with a strong offensive showing to start the game .SJSU (3-20, 0-11) did most of their damage in the paint with 16 points while New Mexico (11-13, 5-7) relied on the deep ball, making eight from 3-point range. The Lobos would go on to finish with 14 3s (14-of-27).
Seneca Knight, making his fifth-straight start, drained a corner trey to give SJSU a 14-11 at the 11:56 mark and Noah Baumann drained his second 3 of the half to give SJSU a 30-27 lead with 5:01 remaining in the, however that would be the Spartans final field goal of the half.
New Mexico took advantage and went on 15-2 run over the final 5:01 to close out the half and take a 42-32 lead into the locker room. The Spartans were shooting 41 percent from the field prior to the run, but finished with a 37 percent clip for the half.
The run carried over to the second half as New Mexico opened with three quick treys and took advantage of the Spartans' scoring woes. The Lobos extended the run to 35-6 that spanned a total of 12:41 and was able to close out the game comfortably. New Mexico finished the half shooting 54 percent while SJSU shot just 33.3 percent.
Turnovers, which have been a thorn in the Spartans' side all season, were a nonfactor as they finished with just 11 and didn't commit their first until the 9:36 mark in the opening half. New Mexico, however, did take advantage of those few committed with 14 points scored off. The Lobos also dominated on fastbreak opportunities as they outscored the Spartans 35-2.
Baumann led the Spartans with 10 points. With his two made 3s, the product of Phoenix, Arizona, extended his consecutive games with a 3-pointer streak to 21 games, tying the school record set in 2009-10 by Robert Owens.
Ashtin Chastain had a team-best 11 rebounds to go with seven points while Knight finished with nine points.
Keith McGee led the Lobos with 20 points while Corey Manigault added 17 of his own. New Mexico scored 18 points at the charity stripe (18-of-27) while the Spartans were 8-of-15. The Lobos won the rebound battle 44-39.
The Spartans return to the hardwood Saturday as they host UNLV at the Event Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. PT and will be televised on AT&T SportsNet.
