Live blog: UNLV wraps 77-54 win over New Mexico

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Published Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021 | 4:35 p.m.

Updated Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021 | 3:49 p.m.

UNLV just played its best game of the season, wrapping up a 77-54 win over New Mexico to improve to 3-6 on the year.

It was the scarlet and gray's first conference victory (1-2), and judging by what we saw on the court today they've got a great chance to pick up another win in the return game between these teams on Monday evening. 

Mbacke Diong scored a career-high 20 points, while Bryce Hamilton posted 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Freshman wing Nick Blake enjoyed a breakout game as well, totaling 18 points while making 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

New Mexico simply is not a very good basketball team, and it showed when the Lobos had the ball. They made just 17-of-51 from the field (33.3 percent) and committed 14 turnovers on 64 possessions.

Mbacke Diong carrying UNLV past New Mexico

Mbacke Diong is going off.

The senior center, who is not normally known for his offensive exploits, has 17 points on 8-of-8 shooting and UNLV is cruising past New Mexico. With 13:57 remaining, the scarlet and gray have a 55-33 lead.

In addition to Diong, freshman wing Nick Blake just swished back-to-back 3-pointers and Bryce Hamilton followed with a triple of his own to force New Mexico to call timeout. UNLV is now shooting 55.0 percent from the floor.

Blake has 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

UNLV leads New Mexico at half, 37-26

It may not have looked like a well-oiled machine, but UNLV played pretty good offense over the first 20 minutes to take a 37-26 lead over New Mexico at the half.

UNLV connected on 15-of-29 shots from the field and generally worked the UNM defense, but seven turnovers and some questionable 3-point attempts made the offensive execution look worse than it was.

Freshman Nick Blake has stood out so far; with Marvin Coleman out, Blake got 13 minutes, mostly as the lead ball-handler, and scored eight points on 3-of-6 shooting. He was a little shaky at times when New Mexico pressured his dribble, but that's to be expected for a first-year player being thrust into such a crucial role.

Mbacke Diong leads UNLV with 10 points. Caleb Grill has scored eight on 3-of-6 shooting.

UNLV has done a good job of keeping New Mexico off the glass. The Lobos thrive on second-chance points, but Diong, Edoardo Del Cadia and the rest of the team has limited UNM to four offensive rebounds.

To put it bluntly, New Mexico doesn't look like a very good team. If UNLV continues to take care of the glass and executes at an acceptable level on offense, this should end up as a comfortable win for T.J. Otzelberger's crew.

UNLV jumps ahead of New Mexico early

Hot-shooting UNLV jumped out to a 15-point lead in the opening minutes, and with 10:39 left in the first half the scarlet and gray have a 22-12 lead over New Mexico.

David Jenkins and Caleb Grill drilled back-to-back 3's to make it 7-2 early, and freshman wing Nick Blake just pulled up from the top of the arc to add another triple.

The UNLV defense has been strong as well; they've harassed UNM's weak ball-handlers and forced four turnovers on the Lobos' first 10 possessions.

Marvin Coleman out for season

Just minutes after our last blog update, UNLV announced that Marvin Coleman will miss the rest of the season due to a stress fracture in his right leg.

That's a big blow for UNLV, which has few options to replace him as a "true" point guard. Coleman averaged 6.7 points and 4.0 assists this season; junior wing Bryce Hamilton is averaging 3.3 assists, and freshman Nick Blake is next at 2.0 assists.

Look for T.J. Otzelberger to play Blake extended minutes in an attempt to get more playmaking on the floor. Blake is averaging 6.0 points in 16.1 minutes.

Marvin Coleman out vs. New Mexico

So much for Marvin Coleman being an impact player today. The junior point guard, who has been battling through leg injuries for much of the year, is out for today's game.

UNLV is on the court going through pregame warmups at the moment, and Coleman is not in uniform. He is wearing a mask and rebounding/distributing for the active players, but it looks like UNLV will have to do without their most experienced playmaker when they tip off against New Mexico.

Coleman missed both of UNLV's games at Colorado State last week, but returned to play 21 minutes off the bench against St. Katherine. He looked spry in that game, notching six points and six assists, but it appears his injury issues are not in the rearview mirror just yet.

Without Coleman in the lineup against Colorado State, T.J. Otzelberger started shooting guard David Jenkins at the point and split most of the ball-handling duties between Jenkins and swingman Bryce Hamilton. Freshman Donavan Yap has some point guard skills but has yet to see any meaningful minutes yet this season.

Three keys for UNLV basketball vs. New Mexico

UNLV resumes Mountain West play by welcoming New Mexico to the Thomas & Mack Center this afternoon (and again on Monday evening). Three keys to watch as UNLV (2-6, 0-2 MWC) attempts to pick up its first conference win of the year:

Pack the paint

New Mexico has been a bombs-away team under coach Paul Weir, but this season the Lobos have been eschewing the 3-point shot in favor of getting inside the arc. According to Hoop-Math, only 27.1 percent of UNM’s shots have come from beyond the 3-point line, ranking them 337^th in the nation.

Lobos’ top scorer Maluach Makuach (13.6 points per game) is a mid-range player, while forward Rod Brown (9.0 points) is operates strictly in the paint. It shouldn’t be too difficult for UNLV to sag defensively, pack the paint and limit their room to operate.

Box out

Of course, because New Mexico plays big and focuses on interior scoring, they are tough to keep off the glass. For the season UNM ranks ninth in the nation in offensive rebounding (14.7 per game), with Brown and forward Bayron Matos combining for 5.0 offensive boards per contest.

T.J. Otzelberger generally wants to downsize and play small and fast, but look for him to lean on his big men a little more in this series. That could mean more extended minutes for lineups that include both center Mbacke Diong and forward Edoardo Del Cadia, the only true big men in the rotation.

Get Marvin going

Marvin Coleman is a certified Lobo killer. Last year he led UNLV to a season sweep of UNM, first by posting a triple-double (11 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) and then by scoring 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the return game, so don’t be surprised if he goes off in this series.

And that would be a good thing for UNLV. Coleman has battled leg injuries this season, and after missing the Colorado State series he looked to have a bit of spring in his step while posting six points and six assists in 21 minutes against St. Katherine. Let’s see if he can take another step in the right direction against his favorite opponent.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.