Lobo Pack: UNLV game preview

What:

New Mexico Lobos vs. UNLV Runnin’ Rebels

When:

Saturday, March 5th, 2022, at 9:00 p.m. Mountain Time

Where:

University Arena (The Pit) in Albuquerque, NM

Coverage:

The game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1. On the radio waves it will be carried on the UNM Sports Radio Network. Flagship station is 770 AM/96.3 FM in Albuquerque.

Series:

UNLV leads the series 40-25. In the last contest between these two UNLV pummeled UNM by a final of 85-56 in Las Vegas, back on January 11th.

Breakdown:

The New Mexico Lobos will close out their regular season on Saturday night when they host the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels in The Pit.

The Lobos will be looking to bounce back from a 71-68 loss to Fresno State on Monday night. That loss dropped the Lobos to 12-18 overall and 4-12 in the Mountain West Conference.

The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels sit at 18-12 overall and are 10-7 in MWC play. Last game out for the Rebels, they defeated Wyoming 64-57 on Wednesday night.

What to expect from UNLV:

The Rebels rely on Bryce Hamlton the most. He’s averaging 21.6 points per game this season. He had 15 points in the win against Wyoming.

Earlier this season Hamilton scored 17 points against the Lobos. Hamilton has gone for double-digits in scoring in every contest but one this season. Expect him to see plenty of touches.

Do not sleep on Royce Hamm either. The 6-foot-9 senior is averaging 8.7 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game on the season. He scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win over Wyoming.

Against the Lobos earlier this season, Hamm had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

What to expect from the Lobos:

The Lobos will need to lean on Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Jaelen House yet again in this one.

Mashburn has been the more consistent of the two, but House is capable of packing the stat line, as was the case with his 42 points against Air Force.

In the contest in Vegas against the Rebels, House went for just 8 points, while Mashburn 11 points that night.

KJ Jenkins might be the x-factor tonight for UNM. Jenkins went for 26 points in the first matchup between these two. He has been inconsistent since that game, but can explode when given the opportunity.

Final Thoughts and Prediction:

This is an interesting contest for the Lobos. They have only pride to play for right now, as they are locked into an opening round contest with Nevada in the MWC Tournament next week.

The question will be if they are motivated enough to contend for this win. Hamilton and Hamm will be tough to slow down, but I get the feeling the Lobos will slow them down and get Jenkins involved a ton in this one.

I got Lobos-81 UNLV-75.