Nevada vs New Mexico 3/9/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The 9-seed New Mexico Lobos & 8-seed Nevada Wolf Pack will square off at the Thomas & Mack Center this Wednesday afternoon in the 1^st round of the Mountain West Championship.

The New Mexico Lobos finished their regular season with an overall record of 13-18 and earned the 9-seed in the Mountain West Championship after finishing conference play with a 13-18 margin. New Mexico finished their non-conference schedule with an 8-6 record with their best wins coming against Florida Atlantic, New Mexico State, & Montana State. New Mexico struggled at the start of conference play, losing their first 7 games, however, the Lobos were better down the stretch, winning 6 of their final 11 games which included a win against Wyoming.

On the season, New Mexico is averaging 72.4 ppg on 44.7% shooting from the field. The Lobos are averaging 7.1 three-pointers per game on 33.4% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, New Mexico has been led by Jamal Mashburn Jr. (18.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.1 apg), Jaelen House (16.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.4 apg, 2.2 spg), KJ Jenkins (9.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg), & Javonte Johnson (7.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg).

Defensively, New Mexico is allowing their opponents to average 75.2 ppg on 45.4% from the field. The Lobos have a rebound margin of -3.5 and a turnover margin of 1.5.

The 8-seed Nevada Wolf Pack finished their regular season with an overall record of 12-17 and earned the 8-seed in the Mountain West Championship after finishing conference play with a 6-12 record. Nevada finished their non-conference schedule with aa record of 6-5 with their best wins coming against George Mason & Washington. Nevada started out conference play with a 3-2 record, however, despite being competitive down the stretch, Wolf Pack finished their regular season losing 10 of their last 13 games.

On the season, Nevada is averaging 72.4 ppg on 44.7% shooting from the field. The Wolf Pack are averaging 7.1 three-pointers per game on 33.4% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Nevada has been led by Grant Sherfield (18.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 6.5 apg), Desmond Cambridge Jr. (16.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.7 spg, 1.2 bpg), Will Baker (11.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg), & Kenan Blackshear (8.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.2 spg).

Defensively, Nevada is allowing their opponents to average 73.8 ppg on 44.1% shooting from the field. The Wolf Pack have a rebound margin of 0.3 and a turnover margin of -0.3.

The Lobos are 10-4-2 ATS in their last 16 games following a ATS win, however, are just 1-5 ATS in their last 6 neutral site games. The Wolf Pack are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games as a favorite & 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a losing straight up record.

Nevada was able to defeat New Mexico in their only game of regular season as the Wolf Pack defeated the Lobos by a 79-70 margin at home in early January.

New Mexico has been solid on the offensive end this season in terms of putting up points as the Lobos rank 93^rd in scoring offense, however, New Mexico has struggled defensively as they come into this matchup ranked t-309^th in scoring defense, 292^nd in defensive FG%, & 308^th in rebound margin. Nevada has also struggled on the defensive end, however, the offense has been solid, ranking 144^th in scoring offense & 135^th in FG% while also going 2-1 in neutral site games. New Mexico is coming off a solid win at UNLV, however, this is a team that just hasn’t had any answers away from home this season (2-9 road record; 0-2 neutral site) and as Nevada has been competitive as of late agianst some of the better Mountain West teams, I think the Wolf Pack does enough to cover this spread. Good Luck!