ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Donovan Dent drove the length of the court to lay in the winning shot with 2.8 seconds to play and give New Mexico a 68-66 win over No. 22 Colorado State on Wednesday night.
Dent, who finished with 16 points, barreled straight up the floor with the Lobos trailing by one, found a seam through the lane and banked the ball in off the glass as he was fouled. After he made the foul shot, Nique Clifford’s fadeaway 3-pointer hit the rim at the buzzer.
New Mexico (21-6, 9-5 Mountain West) had four players in double figures, with Jamal Mashburn Jr. also scoring 16 and Jaelen House adding 14. Nelly Junior Joseph chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Lobos.
Colorado State’s Isaiah Stevens scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in the final eight minutes of the game, including two from the line to give the Rams (20-7, 8-6) a 66-65 lead. Joel Scott added 17 for the Rams.
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It was New Mexico’s third win at home this season against AP Top 25 teams, all from the Mountain West.
After the Rams opened the scoring with a Scott bucket, New Mexico scored the next 13 points. Colorado State, however, battled back with a 23-5 run, spurred by two 3-pointers from Jalen Lake and one from Stevens to take a 25-20 lead. It was 30-30 at halftime.
BIG PICTURE
With the win, the Lobos pulled into a tie with San Diego State for third in the conference standings, a game behind league-leading Utah State.
The loss drops the Rams into a virtual tie for seventh with UNLV.
UPCOMING
New Mexico is home against Air Force on Saturday.
Colorado State travels to UNLV on Saturday in what will be an important game for both schools.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
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