Nelly Joseph scored a season-high 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting and New Mexico ended No. 16 Utah State’s 15-game winning streak with a 99-86 victory over the Aggies in Mountain West play on Tuesday night at Albuquerque, N.M.
Joseph also collected eight rebounds, blocked five shots for the second straight game and had three steals for the Lobos (15-3, 3-2). Donovan Dent had 15 points, a career-high 14 assists plus three steals, while Jaelen House had 14 points before fouling for New Mexico.
JT Toppin and Mustapha Amzil scored 12 points and Jamal Mashburn Jr. had 10 for New Mexico, which is 10-0 at home. The Lobos halted a seven-game losing streak against Utah State.
Ian Martinez scored 22 points and blocked three shots for Utah State (16-2, 4-1), which entered the day tied for the longest active winning streak in the country. Samford beat Western Carolina earlier Tuesday to run its winning streak to 16.
Mason Falslev registered 19 points and nine rebounds and Great Osobor had 15 points and eight boards for the Aggies. Josh Uduje scored 13 points and Darius Brown II had 11 for Utah State.
New Mexico has two straight wins against ranked teams, having beaten then-No. 19 San Diego State on Saturday.
The Lobos shot a solid 57.4 percent from the field despite making just 5 of 19 from 3-point range. New Mexico committed just seven turnovers.
Utah State connected on 44.1 percent of its shots and made 4 of 17 from behind the arc.
The Lobos led 62-42 early in the second half on a jumper by Joseph.
A short time later, Martinez scored 14 straight Aggies points to get Utah State back in the game. He capped it with a 3-pointer, three free throws and a driving layup in a span of 47 seconds as the Aggies pulled within 71-62 with 12:55 left in the game.
Brown then scored five straight points as Utah cut its deficit to 77-70 with 9:45 left.
Soon after, New Mexico used consecutive baskets from Joseph, Dent and Amzil to stretch its lead to 85-72 with 7:03 to play.
A 3-pointer by House gave the Lobos a 92-78 lead with 4:31 left. Amzil swished another trey 20 seconds later to make it a 17-point margin and New Mexico closed it out from there.
Joseph made all four of his 3-point attempts while scoring 16 first-half points. The Lobos shot 64.5 percent and took a 55-39 lead into the break.
–Field Level Media
