Lobos season comes to an end

The New Mexico Lobos 2022-23 season came to an end on Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT at The Pit.

UNM came into the contest as a favorite over visiting Utah Valley, who had won the WAC regular season championship, but fell in the conference tournament. The Wolverines were powered by a career-high 32 points from guard Justin Harmon to an 84-69 victory.

The Lobos struggled to find any semblance of an offense in the loss. Jamal Mashburn Jr., the Mountain West Connection’s Player of the Year, scored just six points on 1-of-14 shooting from the floor. Jaelen House stumbled to 14 points and five assists. The only consistent one on the night was Morris Udeze who scored 18 points and grabbed 19 rebounds for UNM, who ends the season 22-12.

Still a season of success

Even though many Lobo fans will consider this season a letdown, this writer considers this season a success compared to where the program has been over the last decade really.

The 22-12 record was the best record of a Lobo team since the 2013-14 season. It was also the first winning season for Lobo basketball since 2019-20 season ended with a 19-14 record. It was just the second time over the last five seasons that the program has had a winning record as well. Count those with the first postseason trip since 2013-14 and Lobo fans should be thankful for the season they witnessed.

Add to that with some young additions getting ready to join the program in the fall, the future seems very bright for the first time in a long time.