Toppin, Mashburn and Dent lead Lobos to high-scoring win over Toledo

HENDERSON, Nev. — UNM is still waiting on its highly regarded transfer class to break out.

And the Lobos would sure like to have all-conference fifth-year senior point guard Jaelen House, who missed his third consecutive game with a hip injury, get healthy sometime soon.

But as long as freshman sensation JT Toppin keeps doing what he's doing, the team's feeling pretty good.

The 6-foot-9 true freshman forward, who was named Mountain West Freshman of the Week on Monday, had a double-double and matched senior starter Jamal Mashburn Jr. with a game-high 27 points to carry the Lobos to a hard-fought 92-84 win over defending MAC Champion Toledo on Tuesday in the first day of the Ball Dawgs Classic in the Dollar Loan Center.

"I didn't run one play for him," said UNM coach Richard Pitino. "... JT did some amazing things just rebounding the basketball."

The Lobos improved to 3-1 on the season and held off a Toledo squad which shot 61.3% in the second half, outscored UNM 24-9 on 3-pointers and forced 15 UNM turnovers.

The Rockets erased an 11-point UNM lead from early in the second half to lead 57-55 with 12:51 left to play.

One of two Mashburn 3-pointers in his steady scoring night with 12:12 remaining put UNM up for good at 58-57, and the senior guard's ability to draw fouls (he drew 11 fouls in the game and was 9-of-11 at the free throw line) kept the Rockets off balance all night.

And while Toledo kept it close down the stretch, the Lobos, with Toppin and senior center Nelly Junior Joseph nearly posting a double-double of his own (8 points, 10 rebounds), proved to be far too much to handle in the paint.

UNM outrebounded Toledo 43-25, outscored them in the paint 52-38 (it was 30-12 at halftime), and outscored them on second-chance points 16-5.

Toppin's 27 points came on an eye-popping 11-of-12 shooting from the floor (his first miss coming late in the second half on his only 3-point attempt) to go along with 5-of-5 at the free throw line and 11 rebounds, making him the first freshman in UNM Lobos history to record back-to-back double-doubles (he had 15 points and 10 rebounds in last week's win over UT Arlington.

He was one made field goal away from tying Luc Longley's (12-of-12 vs. UT Arlington on Nov. 23, 1990) school record for most made field goals without a miss in program history.

Four of his 11 made field goals came off assists from Donovan Dent, who had 17 points of his own to go along with tying a career high in assists (7).

The chemistry he and Toppin have developed in a short time at UNM has been a big reason why the Lobos have been able to weather the storm of House being out with an injury.

"We got it in practice," Toppin said of the uncanny connection he and Dent have already formed. "... I know he's gonna pass the ball. We make eye contact, I just know. I make that connection."

As the freshman came out to media row to do his first post-game interview in college, Pitino was wrapping up an interview with the Journal and saw his star freshman approach before he let him have it a bit.

"He shouldn't have missed that shot. Wide open. He should have been 12-of-12, 30 points," Pitino said with a smile before reminding a reporter of a preseason conversation about the league's best freshman.

"As I said when he got here, and I told you when you asked me who's your freshmen of the year. I said JT Toppin. He's a terrific player."

HOUSE OUT: House, the Lobos' fifth-year senior point guard, missed Tuesday's game still recovering from the same hip area injury he's been nursing for the past two months. He missed about five weeks of preseason practices, played the Nov. 6 opener against Texas Southern, then has missed the past three games.

House was in street clothes on the Lobos' bench, active and vocal trying to help the team.

BALL DAWGS: The six-team Ball Dawgs Classic is being streamed online by FloHoops.com for a fee.

In earlier action in the event, Indiana State beat Rice, 103-88, and UC Irvine defeated Pepperdine, 76-60.

POSTGAME STATS: New Mexico 92, Toledo 84