Still flying high: Dent, Junior Joseph, Noland shine as UNM Lobos throttle Colorado State in the Pit

Nelly Junior Joseph was dominant, C.J. Noland was perfect and Donovan Dent showed why he’s the conference MVP frontrunner as New Mexico thrashed Colorado State 87-65 on Wednesday night in the Pit.

And, four days after UNM used a 52-point second half to crush then conference co-leading Utah State on the road, the Lobos got another 52-point second half to pull away from the Rams down the stretch, keeping hold of sole possession of first place in the Mountain West standings while improving to 11-1 in league play.

"It was back and forth the first half, and then we just really composed ourselves," UNM coach Richard Pitino said. "I think we were down one with about 10 minutes to go and then just went an amazing run. Shooting the ball well, got a great desire to win right now."

UNM (19-4, 11-1 MW) gets the season sweep of a Colorado State (14-8, 8-3 MW) team that had been playing as well as anyone in the league since their first matchup — a 76-68 Lobos win in Fort Collins on Dec. 28.

The Lobos played extraordinary defense throughout, but it wasn’t until the second half when their offense truly got going.

UNM took a 35-31 lead into halftime and extended its lead multiple times to six or even eight points, only to have the Rams claw back.

A Nique Clifford 3-pointer with 12:51 left in the game put the upset-minded Rams ahead, 50-49, and for a moment, hushed the announced late night Pit crowd of 13,436.

The Rams managed to weather the storm to that point.

Unfortunately for the visitors, not unlike what the Lobos did on the road Saturday night when they closed out their game against then conference co-leaders Utah State on a 43-15 run, on Wednesday night the Lobos closed out CSU with a 38-15 run — turning that brief second-half deficit into a runaway victory that stopped at 22 points only because the final buzzer mercifully called an end to the contest.

"It felt like it was really a kind of a heavyweight fight. I mean, we weren't making a lot of shots, but we were doing enough to kind of answer some punches," Colorado State coach Niko Medved told the Journal after the game. "And then, yeah, that last 10 minutes or whatever it was, it just got away from us. ...

"When they needed it, they made a lot of big shots to stretch it (the lead). And then they just kind of deflated us down the stretch. ... The scoreboard's the scoreboard. You got to play 40 minutes, and it's hard to do that (vs. UNM)."

Junior Joseph, the reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, scored 18 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, had four assists, blocked five shots, had three steals, drew seven fouls and hit 10 free throws. It was his fourth-consecutive double-double and league-leading 12th of the season.

"Whew! Nell' was hoopin!" Noland said when told of his teammate's eye-popping stat line in a postgame press conference. He then elaborated on what it does for the rest of the team with your center is being so dominant at the rim.

"I mean, it's everything. Like you said, he had every stat and a few others. When a guard does it, it's one thing, but when you have your big doing it, it's a whole other different thing. ... It just takes your team to the next level, for sure."

So does a perfect shooting night and 19 points off the bench from your senior co-captain. That's what Noland delivered in just over 22 minutes of playing time Wednesday, going 7-of-7 from the floor, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range, and adding a perfect 2-of-2 night at the free throw line.

Not to be outdone on the final stat sheet was Dent. The 6-foot-2 Lobos point guard scored 14 of his 19 points (shared game-high honors with Noland) to go along with four assists, six rebounds, two steals and a block.

After a 1-of-7 shooting, one assist and two turnover first half, did Pitino say anything to his star guard at the break to get him going?

"Yeah, and nothing I could say in here (the postgame press room), because I would be in trouble," Pitino said. "I got on him. I was not happy with him. He's better than that. He's a better leader than that. He was consumed with the fact that he couldn't make shots. His body language was really, really poor. So, to his credit, I got on him, and he responded very, very well."

Rashaan Mbemba led the Rams with 17 points. Kyan Evans added 15 points and Clifford, arguably the No. 2 to Dent's No. 1 in the player of the year race, was held to 9 points on 3-of-15 shooting, ending a streak of four consecutive double-digit scoring games for him.

Noland some, and Filip Borovicanin plenty, combined on the defense of Clifford, who did manage five assists and 10 rebounds.

UNM, winners of five straight and 12 of their past 13 games, is one of only eight Mountain West teams to win 11 of their first 12 conference games.

Colorado State has won nine of its last 12 games, but two of those losses have come to UNM.

The Rams were held to 34.5% shooting for the game (including 5-of-23, or 21.7% from beyond the arc), only the second time all season they shot under 40%.

The Lobos, meanwhile, hit 53.6% of their shots, including a blazing 9-of-14 (64.3%) from long distance.

Both teams play in Colorado on Saturday, the Lobos at 0-12 Air Force while the Rams host 8-3 San Diego State.

BOX SCORE: New Mexico 87, Colorado State 65

UNM men crush Colorado State: Photos