UNM Men's Basketball Team Drains 3s, Drops the Colorado State Rams in Fort Collins
New Mexico’s Luke Haupt (3) drives to the basket against Colorado State. Photo: UNM Athletics
Freshman Jake Hall and his University of New Mexico men's basketball teammates had a much better time on the road this time than a week earlier.
On Tuesday night, the 3-ball fell -- and so did Colorado State -- as the Lobos posted an 80-70 win against the Rams in Fort Collins, Colo.
Hall led the Lobos (12-3, 3-1) in the Mountain West conference game with 18 points and hit 3 of 5 treys. UNM shot exactly the same amount of 3s as it did in a 62-53 loss at Boise State last week, but this time the result was far different.
Against the Broncos, UNM was 3-of-25 (12%) from long range, but against CSU, the Lobos went 11-of-25 behind the arc (44.0%).
UNM drained its most 3s since hitting 13 against Wyoming two years ago.
Antonio Chol and Tajavis Miller each hit a trio of 3s and scored 11 points, and New Mexico led nearly the entire game in picking up a key road win.
“Any win we will take, but a road win against a really good team in the league is great," said UNM coach Eric Olen. "That has the potential to be a Quad 1 or 2 win as the season goes along, and that is important. It was good to play well on the road on both sides of the ball. Our first road game in conference (the loss to Boise State), we had one side of the ball down (defensively), but tonight we were good on both ends and that’s what you need to win on the road in this league.”
The Lobos used a 7-0 run to break an 8-8 tie, and they remained in control throughout the evening.
Miller hit a pair of 3s during a key burst that helped the Lobos to a 37-24 lead late in the first half. UNM was up 39-30 at the break.
The Rams (10-5, 1-3), who lost their second straight at home, entered the night as the fifth best 3-point shooting team in the country. Like UNM, they also shot 25 3-pointers -- but hit just seven (28.0%).
UNM's inside tandem of Tomislav Buljan (eight points, 11 rebounds) and JT Rock (nine points, six rebounds) led the way in the paint.
Each team had 31 rebounds.
The Lobos continue their two-game road swing on Saturday at struggling Air Force (3-12, 0-4).
The Falcons were ripped 99-62 at home by Utah State on Tuesday. They have been outscored by an average of 79-54 in league play.
