HENDERSON, Nev. – – Donovan Dent had 17 points and eight assists, Nelly Junior Joseph added 16 points and 12 rebounds for his 45th career double-double, and New Mexico defeated No. 22 UCLA 72-64 on Friday night in the Las Vegas. Vegas Hoopfest.

It was New Mexico’s first win against a ranked team in non-conference play since beating current UCLA coach Mick Cronin while in Cincinnati during the 2012-13 season.

CJ Noland added 13 points for the Lobos (2-0). Junior Joseph was one of three New Mexico players with a double-double in a season-opening win over Nicholls on Monday.

Tyler Bilodeau, a transfer from Oregon State, had 23 points and 15 rebounds for UCLA (1-1), which opened the season Monday with an 85-50 win over Rider.

New Mexico held the Bruins to 1-of-9 shooting from the field through the first seven minutes of the second half, extending its 11-point halftime lead to 49-33.

New Mexico’s 11th steal led to Tru Washington’s fast-break dunk for a 58-43 cushion. The Lobos had a lead of at least eight the rest of the way.

Takeaways

New Mexico stayed hot in Nevada. The game was played at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, just minutes from where the Lobos defeated San Diego State 68-61 last season in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Key moment

Dent slipped on the court with 7:52 left on an inbounds pass as the Lobos led 62-48. He went to the locker room and UCLA took advantage by switching to a pressure defense while New Mexico’s star point guard was out. Dent returned at 5:39 with a wrap around his left leg and scored on his first offensive possession to restore a double-digit lead at 68–57.

Key stat

New Mexico turned good defense into offense by scoring 21 points off 21 UCLA turnovers.

Next

UCLA returns home on Monday to take on Boston University. New Mexico hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday.

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