NCAA
New Mexico 72, Nevada 58
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
RENO, Nev. – Fighting off a sluggish start for the second straight game, No. 25 New Mexico powered past Nevada 72-58 on Sunday afternoon at Lawlor Events Center behind the usual suspects.
Forward Cameron Bairstow scored 22 points, guard Kendall Williams added 11 points and 10 assists and center Alek Kirk chipped in with 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Lobos.
New Mexico trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half before closing the half on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit 31-27. With the game tied at 49-49 with nine minutes remaining, the Lobos went on another 8-0 run.
Sunday’s rally came one game after New Mexico used a 23-5 second-half run to blow past Utah State.
New Mexico (23-5, 14-2 in the Mountain West) kept pace with San Diego State (25-3, 14-2) and enters the final week of the conference season in a tie with the Aztecs. The teams play each other March 8 in San Diego, with the winner likely taking the Mountain West’s regular-season crown.
Nevada (13-16, 8-8) was led by guard Deonte Burton (15 points, five assists), forward Cole Huff (15 points) and forward A.J. West (10 points, seven rebounds).
Nevada used an 11-2 run in the middle of the first half to take a 31-27 halftime lead.
Burton led the Wolf Pack with 10 first-half points on 4-of-7 shooting. Huff added six points for Nevada, which led by as many as 14 points before the break.
The top five teams receive first-round byes in the Mountain West tournament. The Wolf Pack fell into a tie for fifth with a loss.
New Mexico ended the half on an 8-0 run. The surge came after West, the Wolf Pack’s rim-protecting big man, tweaked his right ankle. He immediately left the game, sparking the Lobos’ run.
Nevada made 12-of-35 shots (34.3 percent) in the first half. New Mexico was 11-of-27 (40.7 percent), and it hit just one of nine 3-point attempts. Guard Kendall Williams led New Mexico with nine first-half points.
NOTES: New Mexico improved to 3-0 all-time against Nevada. … New Mexico F Cameron Bairstow (20.2 ppg) led the Mountain West in scoring entering play Sunday, while Nevada G Deonte Burton was second (19.9 ppg). … New Mexico’s Bairstow, guard Kendall Williams and guard Chris Perez all moved into a tie for third in program history in career wins with 102. … Williams passed Rob Robbins for eighth on New Mexico’s all-time scoring list. He has 1,741 career points.
