Jackson, Manigault Carry Lobos

Vance Jackson said upon transferring from UConn that the fans of New Mexico were great, after Tuesday the fans are reciprocating those feelings for the guard. Jackson recorded his first double-double as a Lobo Tuesday with 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead UNM to a 90-83 win over the Iona Gaels.

Corey Manigault poured in 18 points off the bench, including a spurt that had him score four of six Lobos points that brought them back from a five point deficit and put them in the lead for good.

Head Coach Paul Weir said after the game, “The training that we do, and the style of play that we do, allow those things that we work on to kick in the last four minutes of the game. Doesn’t always work that way, but fortunately tonight we had a little bit more legs and juice for the last four minutes.”

The Lobos looked really good over the last 8:30 of the second half, outscoring Iona 23-11 after EJ Crawford hit two free throws to put Iona up 72-67. From there Manigault brought the Lobos back with two free throws, and then a steal and dunk, after two Keith McGee free throws, that put the Lobos up for good at 73-72. The Lobos then got huge three point baskets from Anthony Mathis and Dane Kuiper to pull away down the stretch, and move to 2-0 on the young season.

The game was very sloppy, with the Lobos committing 20 turnovers, and Iona having 15. Oddly enough the Lobos are now 4-0 under Paul Weir when committing 20 or more turnovers. Iona had 29 fouls, while the Lobos had 22. The Lobos were 24 of 38 from the free throw line while Iona went 26 for 36. The Lobos did shoot 50% from the field while Iona was only 40% from the field.

Iona did Iona basketball, spreading the scoring around with five players in double figures led by Asante Gist with 19, followed by EJ Crawford with 16.

The Lobos did a better job of slowing down the inside game in this one, as the points in the paint were tied at 28 a piece.

Next up for the Lobos they will play host to rival New Mexico State Saturday evening in The Pit.