UNLV Rebels at New Mexico Lobos

New Mexicon withstands wild finish to beat UNLV 91-90

Jordan Johnson scored 25 points to equal a career high for the Rebels, and he added nine assists and six rebounds.

"It was a really, unusual game I thought," Lobos coach Paul Weir said. "UNLV played a very good basketball game. We missed a lot of stuff. A lot of layup around the rim. A lot of loose balls ended up in their hands. It seemed like we couldn't catch a break in that second half. But fortunately we were able to close the game and come out with a big win."

Maluach tied the game for the Lobos with a drive down the lane with 44 seconds left before Jovan Mooring hit 2 of 3 foul shots with 30.7 left to put the Rebels (19-10, 8-8) back up two.

"And that I think that opened up the 3-point shot in the next play," Weir said of Maluach's game-winner.

Kris Clyburn missed an open 3 with four seconds left, Mooring's tip rolled off the rim then Brandon McCoy's put-back onto the rim bounced twice and fell off.

"We drew up what happened," UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said of the final play. "We didn't get the ball to go down, I thought we had a great offensive rebound effort. There may have been some contact on that put back effort. But it wasn't called, so. ."

BIG PICTURE

UNLV remains in seventh place in the conference standings

The win leaves New Mexico tied for third with Fresno State.

MENTOR MENTEE

The coaches worked together for nine years at New Mexico State, where Menzies was head coach and Weir his top assistant. Weir was the Aggies coach for one season before taking the Lobos' helm this season.

"I'm really proud of my guy Paul," Menzies said. "He's done a fantastic job here in a short amount of time. He had some returners, some good guys that came back and sprinkled in a few new guys. They're playing hard and are really doing a good job."

FOUL: McCoy, UNLV's leading scorer and rebounder, picked up his second foul nine minutes into the first half and didn't play again until starting the second half. He played five minutes and finished with three points and two boards before the break. He finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.

UP NEXT

UNLV hosts conference front-runner No. 20 Nevada on Wednesday and finishes up Saturday at Utah State.

New Mexico is at Colorado State on Wednesday then finishes up the regular season at home Saturday against Fresno State in a game that likely will determine the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament.

How can I watch UNLV vs. New Mexico?

• TV Channel: UNLV at New Mexico 2021 College Basketball, week 16, is broadcasted on CBSSN.
• Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo Free trial.
  Try Vidgo for free.