Nevada will be looking for revenge when it hosts New Mexico in a key Mountain West Conference game on Tuesday.
On Jan. 24, New Mexico scored an 80-73 home victory over Nevada.
This is important on two fronts for New Mexico. First off, New Mexico (21-6, 12-4) trails first-place Utah State by a game in the Mountain West and is tied for second place with San Diego State. After this game, New Mexico has home matchups against Colorado State and San Diego State, and then finishes the regular season at Utah State.
In addition, New Mexico is looking to improve its position as a potential NCAA at-large team. Entering Monday, the Lobos were ranked No. 43 by KenPom.
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Nevada (18-9, 10-6) has quite a bit of work to do to get into the at-large conversation. The Wolf Pack entered Monday at No. 67 in the KenPom rankings.
In the earlier win over Nevada, New Mexico erased a nine-point second-half deficit to defeat the Wolf Pack for the fifth consecutive time. In the win, New Mexico had six players score between nine and 19 points. Jake Hall, a 6-foot-4 freshman, led the Lobos with 19 points while shooting 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.
New Mexico has won three in a row following Saturday’s 80-78 victory at Fresno State. The Lobos recorded the biggest comeback in school history after overcoming a 22-point deficit in the first half. It was the fourth straight road victory for the Lobos, who are 7-3 away from home. Deyton Albury, a 6-foot-3 senior transfer from Utah State, scored 21 points for New Mexico, the most in his Mountain West Conference career.
Nevada, which is 13-2 at home, snapped a two-game losing streak with Saturday’s 80-77 win over visiting Utah State. The Wolf Pack were on fire offensively. They shot 25-for-49 (.510) from the field, including 10-for-19 (.520) from three-point range.
Corey Camper Jr., a 6-foot-5 graduate student, led Nevada with 20 points, hitting 4-of-5 from deep.
New Mexico at Nevada Odds
As of this writing, Nevada is a 1.5-point college basketball betting favorite on BetMGM.
The Over/Under is 148.5.
New Mexico at Nevada On TV
Tipoff for New Mexico at Nevada is expected to start shortly after 11 p.m. ET.
The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
New Mexico at Nevada Prediction
As the line suggests, this is a tough one to handicap. I like New Mexico getting the points. The Lobos had to feel fortunate to come back and beat a Fresno State team that is near the bottom of the MWC standings at 6-10.
Meanwhile, Nevada just beat first-place Utah State at home.
Logic would say that Nevada has the momentum, but are the Wolf Pack capable of beating yet another MWC contender in consecutive games?
New Mexico is second in the MWC in scoring, averaging 81.4 points per game, while Nevada is eighth at 76.1. The Lobos are also third in scoring defense, allowing 69.5 points, while Nevada is sixth (72.0). Both teams are close in three-point field goal percentage, with Nevada at .376 and New Mexico shooting .366.
The difference is in three-point defense, and that certainly was a factor in the first meeting. New Mexico leads the MWC in three-point defense, holding teams to 29.3 percent. Entering Monday, the Lobos were 10th nationally in three-point field goal defense. Nevada is just ninth in the MWC in three-point defense, allowing teams to shoot .350.
Both teams are close in free-throw percentage, with Nevada at .756 and New Mexico at .746.
Nevada’s Camper is fourth in the MWC in scoring (17.7 PPG), while Hall leads New Mexico (15.9).
