MW: New Mexico on top as Pitino (son) tops Pitino (dad)

The New Mexico Lobos’ 82-74 victory over the Iona Gaels on Sunday was clearly a family affair.

“I am extremely appreciative of my father and Iona to come play this game,” Lobos’ coach Richard Pitino said after getting the best of his father Rick and Iona. “He did not need to do it. He was trying to help his son.”

New Mexico, the No. 1 team in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West men’s basketball rankings, improved to 11-0 by beating the Gaels in front of 14,534 fans at The Pit in Albuquerque. K.J. Jenkins scored 17 points in 24 minutes off the bench with four 3-pointers for New Mexico.

“I believe two Hall of Fame coaches were competing today,” Jenkins said after the game.

Jaelen House had 22 points for the Lobos (11-of-11 from the line) to go along with his five assists.

“It’s not about beating my dad,” said the 40-year-old Richard Pitino, who is now in his second season at New Mexico. “I’m happy we won but I don’t look at as I beat him. I look at it like New Mexico beat Iona.”

Rick Pitino, whose Gaels will play in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu this week (he was an assistant at Hawaii from 1974-76), added, “New Mexico is an excellent team. I’m very happy for Richard. Very proud.”

The Lobos’ 11-0 start is their best opening to a season since the 2012-13 team, coached by current Nevada Wolf Pack coach Steve Alford, went 12-0 on the way to a 29-6 season.

“Richard knows how to handle it,” said Rick Pitino of the Lobos’ undefeated start. “My one piece of advice for them is, ‘Don’t embrace it. Get better. Take what you’ve done wrong and get better because as quickly as you climb the mountain you can get knocked right off.”

No. 2 UNLV fell from the ranks of the unbeaten (10-1) with a 75-73 loss at home to San Francisco on Saturday. The Rebels led 73-64 with 3:23 to play but were outscored 11-0 the rest of the way.

“It’s on us now to see what adversity does to us,” said UNLV’s E.J. Harkless, who scored 21 points in the loss to USF.

UNLV led 59-48 with 12:40 to play and 46-37 at the half. Former Wolf Pack forward Zane Meeks was one of the three Dons who scored 17 points. Meeks, who had a layup with 57 seconds to play to cut UNLV’s lead to 73-72, was 8-of-10 from the floor and also had 17 rebounds.

Tyrell Roberts’ 3-pointer with six seconds to play beat the Rebels. UNLV’s Keshon Gilbert missed a 3-pointer with two seconds to play that would have kept the Rebels undefeated. UNLV missed three shots and turned the ball over twice in the final 2:50.

“We’ve just got to be better down the stretch,” said UNLV’s Luis Rodriguez, who scored 17 points with seven rebounds. “We definitely let this one get out of our hands, for sure.”

No. 3 Utah State (9-0) rolled over Westminster, 106-68, on Thursday at home. Westminster, of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, is a Division II school from Salt Lake City.

The Aggies are now 9-0 for the first time since the 1938-39 season (one of those wins was over Nevada, 43-36). Sophomore Zee Hamoda led Utah State with 28 points in 25 minutes off the bench, draining 6-of-7 threes.

Utah State leads the Mountain West in scoring at 88.2 points a game. New Mexico is second at 83.6.

“These games are tough,” Utah State coach Ryan Odom said. “We encouraged our guys to focus, not so much on the score, but on how we were playing.”

No. 4 Boise State whipped Oakland (77-57) and New Orleans (91-50) last week to improve to 10-2. The Broncos have now won nine games in a row.

Boise State had seven players score between eight and 16 points against New Orleans. The Broncos were 12-of-24 on threes and dominated the boards, 46-22.

Tyson Degenhart had 17 points, Chibuzo Agbo had 16 and Max Rice had 13 points and 10 rebounds against Oakland. Oakland missed 22-of-27 threes.

The Broncos lead the Mountain West in defense, holding opponents to just 57.1 points a game and a .367 shooting percentage.

“We hang our hat and our identity on the way we rebound, defend, compete, share the ball and play for each other offensively,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “That builds consistency.”

No. 5 San Diego State (8-3) was idle last week and will host UC San Diego on Tuesday.

No. 6 Nevada (9-3) got by UC San Diego last Wednesday, 64-56, in Reno, rallying from a 34-29 deficit at halftime. Kenan Blackshear led Nevada with 19 points. The Wolf Pack, which will host Norfolk State at Lawlor Events Center on Wednesday, missed 16-of-21 threes.

The Wolf Pack leads the Mountain West in free throw shooting (.782) but is also last (11th) in field goal percentage (.425).

No. 7 Colorado State (8-4) won at Saint Mary’s, 62-60, on Sunday as Isaiah Stevens scored 23 points with five assists. Saint Mary’s beat San Diego State, 68-61, the week before.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been prouder of a group of guys,” Colorado State coach Niko Medved said. “This is as good as a win as any we’ve ever had.”

Stevens, who broke his foot earlier this year, was playing in just his fifth game this season. He is averaging 19 points a game, making 36-of-60 shots from the floor.

“Isaiah Stevens was just magnificent,” Medved said. “I’m trying to think of all the adjectives about him that I can use and I can’t come up with enough good ones.”

Colorado State had fallen to just 6-4 after losses to Northern Colorado (88-83) and Colorado (93-65) in the first week of December. The Rams have since beaten Peru State (115-72) and now Saint Mary’s since Dec. 11.

“We just had to be honest with ourselves,” said Stevens, the Rams’ 6-foot point guard. “We had to look ourselves in the mirror and we kept it real.”

No. 8 San Jose State (8-4) lost to Pacific, 59-58, in Stockton after leading 37-22 at halftime. Alvaro Cardenas had 17 points on five threes for the Spartans. San Jose State, though, turned the ball over 18 times in the loss in front of just 1,392 on the road.

No. 9 Air Force (8-4) beat Tarleton State, 81-67, at home after trailing 38-37 at halftime. Tarleton State, from Stephenville, Texas, plays in the Western Athletic Conference and is 5-6 with four of the losses to Wichita State, Baylor, Arizona State and Central Florida.

Rytis Petraitis had 20 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench for the Falcons. Jake Heidbreder had 17 points.

No. 10 Wyoming fell to 5-6 after a 66-49 loss to Dayton at Chicago’s United Center on Saturday. Noah Reynolds had 20 points in 29 minutes off the bench for the Cowboys. Hunter Maldonado was 2-of-11 from the floor for six points for Wyoming, which also was outrebounded 33-24.

No. 11 Fresno State (3-7) lost at home to Sacramento State, 59-53. Sac State, 6-5 in the Big Sky Conference, had just six threes, seven free throws and committed 16 turnovers and still won on the road. Fresno State was 2-of-4 from the line.

The loss was just Fresno State’s 10th in 50 games in its rivalry against Sacramento State. The two teams had not met since 2008 before last week.

The Nevada Appeal’s Mountain West men’s basketball rankings for the week of Dec. 19:

1. NEW MEXICO (11-0, 0-0): Last week: Beat Iona, 82-74 (Dec. 18). This week: vs. Prairie View A&M (Tuesday).

2. UNLV (10-1, 0-0): Last week: Lost to San Francisco, 75-73 (Dec. 17). This week: vs. Southern Mississippi (Thursday).

3. UTAH STATE (9-0, 0-0): Last week: Beat Westminster, 106-68 (Dec. 15). This week: vs. Weber State (Monday), at Seattle (Thursday), at Diamond Head Classic at Honolulu (Friday, Sunday).

4. BOISE STATE (10-2, 0-0): Last week: Beat New Orleans, 91-50 (Dec. 13), Oakland, 77-57 (Dec. 18). This week: at Santa Clara (Thursday).

5. SAN DIEGO STATE (8-3, 0-0): Last week: Idle. This week: vs. UC San Diego (Tuesday).

6. NEVADA (9-3, 0-0): Last week: Beat UC San Diego, 64-56 (Dec. 14). This week: vs. Norfolk State (Wednesday).

7. COLORADO STATE (8-4, 0-0): Last week: Beat Saint Mary’s, 62-60 (Dec. 18). This week: vs. USC at Phoenix (Wednesday).

8. SAN JOSE STATE (8-4, 0-0): Last week: Lost to Pacific, 59-58 (Dec. 17). This week: vs. Cal Poly (Tuesday).

9. AIR FORCE (8-4, 0-0): Last week: Beat Tarleton State, 81-67 (Dec. 18). This week: at Northern Colorado (Tuesday).

10. WYOMING (5-6, 0-0): Last week: Lost to Dayton, 66-49 (Dec. 17). This week: at Saint Mary’s (Wednesday).

11. FRESNO STATE (3-7, 0-0): Last week: Lost to Sacramento State, 59-53 (Dec. 17). This week: at Bakersfield (Tuesday).