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(Press Release)ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The University of Utah men's basketball team (20-8, 11-3 MWC) puts its one-game lead in the conference standings on the line Tuesday as the Utes face New Mexico (19-10, 10-4 MWC) at 7 p.m. in "The Pit." The game will be televised live on The Mountain.
The Utes enter the game looking to bounce back from a 13-point loss at BYU Saturday as they had their eight-game winning streak snapped. Utah is now 6-6 in true road games this season and 4-3 on the road in conference play.
New Mexico has won three straight games, including two at home and a two-point overtime victory at Colorado State.
In their last meeting, a Jan. 31 matchup in Salt Lake City, Utah topped New Mexico, 69-68, on the back of a floater from senior guard Lawrence Borha (Staten Island, N.Y.) with less than 10 seconds left in the game. Borha led the Utes with 15 points, while senior center Luke Nevill (Perth, Australia) and senior forward Shaun Green (Salt Lake City) tied for the team lead in rebounds with six. Nevill also blocked four shots in the contest. The Lobos were led by Daniel Faris' game-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds. Nate Garth also handed out a game-high five assists.
Nevill, who continues to make a strong case for All-American and MWC Player of the Year honors, is Utah's leading scorer with 17.1 points per game and tops the conference in rebounds (8.8 rpg) and blocked shots (2.71 bpg).
Nevill's top scoring and rebounding counterparts for New Mexico are Tony Danridge (14.3 ppg) and Roman Martinez (6.3 rpg).
Utah comes into the game needing to win one of its remaining two contests to clinch at least a tie for the MWC regular-season championship. Should the Utes sweep both games, they would win the conference outright, regardless of other results. New Mexico also remains in the conference title race, along with BYU.
Utah holds a 78-45 advantage in the all-time series against the Lobos, but trail 23-37 on New Mexico's home floor. New Mexico has topped Utah six straight times in "The Pit", but needed overtime to secure victory in the last two. UNM was the only team to defeat the Utes in the 2004-05 season, snapping an 18-game win streak with a win in Albuquerque. Utah's last win on the Lobos' home floor was an 81-51 victory in 2002.
(Courtesy UofU Athletic Department)
