NCAAB Game Recap - Wyoming at New Mexico

Sat Jan 19, 2019 6:00 PM EST

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Led by Carlton Bragg's 16 points, six New Mexico players reached double figures as the Lobos pummeled Wyoming 83-53 on Saturday.

Vance Jackson added a double-double for New Mexico (9-9, 3-3 Mountain West) with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while reserve Keith McGee had a career-high 14 and Anthony Mathis had 12 points with eight rebounds.

The Cowboys (4-14, 0-5) got 12 from Justin James and 10 from A.J. Banks.

But as a team Wyoming shot 35 percent from the field and 27 percent on 3-pointers.

The game got away early as New Mexico built up an eight-point advantage over the first 10 minutes of the game, then put things out of doubt with a 14-0 run to go up 38-16.

New Mexico dominated every statistical category, but perhaps the most telling stat was the 20 assists the Lobos collected on their 28 baskets. Five different players had at least three assists, Jackson's five leading the way.

"At the end of end of the day, we want to be a team," New Mexico coach Paul Weir said. "We want to be a team that shares the basketball, passes the basketball and learn to play the right way. I though (Saturday) that was our goal. Fortunately, at times, I thought we did a good job of that."

Likewise, New Mexico held a 29-8 advantage on fast break points after forcing 17 Wyoming turnovers.

"Not only are we limited on the bench, a lot of first year guys or freshman, the experience in of itself was overwhelming to our guys," Cowboys coach Allen Edwards said of playing in the Pit. "I thought we tried. One thing I said to my guys is just keep fighting. Right now it's about just getting better than trying to win the game, especially when it got out of hand."

BIG PICTURE

Wyoming: The Cowboys have now lost five straight games, all of them by at least 12 points. Wyoming's average margin of defeat in that span is 22 points.

New Mexico: After following up New Mexico's win over then-No. 6 Nevada with three straight losses, the Lobos needed a win to start climbing the conference standings.

"That's probably been brought up a few time this year," Weir said. "Is this game going to move us forward? I think we had that after the Nevada game. And everyone kind of says is this your turning point? Is this your turning point? Unfortunately you never know when the turning point is until further down the line. Would I like it to be one, of course, like all of these wins."

HUDDLE UP

Wyoming's bench is so short because of injuries right now that Haize Fornstrom, a walk-on wide receiver for the Cowboys basketball team, saw a minute of play, scoring his first points on a late 3-pointer.

UP NEXT

The Cowboys are home Wednesday against San Jose State. The Spartans and Wyoming are the last two remaining teams without a conference win.

It was a brief home visit for the Lobos, who head back out to UNLV on Tuesday. The teams just played each other Jan. 8, which the Rebels won 85-58.