PIT PARTY! UNM wins MWC regular season title outright

The UNM men’s basketball team celebrates after an 81-67 win over UNLV in The Pit on Friday. UNM won its first outright MWC championship since 2012-13. ***Erik Moulton/The Pit Press***

“Sharing is caring.”

Don’t read that quote to the 2024-25 UNM men’s basketball team. The Lobos had no business in being nice and splitting a conference crown.

UNM (25-6, 17-3 Mountain West Conference) celebrated an outright Mountain West Conference Regular Season Championship – and Senior Night – with an 81-67 win over The University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

And UNM won a championship in front of its faithful and raucous fanbase in its iconic home venue: The Pit.

“It’s why I came here. It was because of this building,” UNM head men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino said.

Senior center Nelly Junior Joseph dismantled the Runnin’ Rebels (17-14, 11-9 MWC) defense with 26 points and 16 rebounds — his 15th double-double of 2024-25.

“We thought Nelly had the advantage down (in the post) and he was phenomenal,” Pitino said.

Phenomenal might be an understatement for UNM’s total team effort this season.

UNM set and tied several program records.

· This is New Mexico’s third outright Mountain West Conference championship. The Lobos join the 2009-10 and 2012-13 teams.

· The Lobos’ 17 conference wins tie the MWC record for league wins in a season. That was set by San Diego State in 2020. The Aztecs went 17-1 in the league and only played 18 games then.

· UNM was 16-1 in The Pit this season.

· The Lobos’ 25 regular season wins are the program’s most since 2012-13, when the Steve Alford-led Lobos won 26.

““It was a special night. We wanted to be able to finish it the right way and do it in this building in front of one of the best fanbases in college basketball. To go wire-to-wire, I am so very proud of our guys,” Pitino said.

Donovan Dent – who received a strong MVP chant towards the end of the game – finished with 20 points and six assists.

MVP chants belted out at The Pit… @Donovandent1 pic.twitter.com/t9hOtAqXaA
— The Pit Press LIVE! Stream & Pod (@ThePitPressNM) March 8, 2025

“You can only get that really once in life, “Dent said of the MVP chants. “I loved it.”

Dent’s case for Mountain West Conference Player of the Year is unfathomable.

He is the first player in MWC history to average 20 points and 6 assists in league play, he’s the second Lobo and second player in the league's 26-year history with 600 pts and 200 assists and Dent is the 14th player in Division-1 basketball history with 600 points and 200 assists in a regular season only.

Eighty-two players have joined the 600/200 club, but they needed additional conference tournament and national tournament games to accomplish that.

Dent said he and the Lobos are turning the page on the regular season.

“Everything that we just did, it goes away,” he said.

The UNM men’s basketball team’s starting five watch UNLV’s Jalen Hill attempt a free throw during the Lobos 81-67 win over UNLV in The Pit on Friday. UNM claimed the MWC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the MWC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. this week.

Despite the victory and coronation of a championship, UNLV made things difficult for UNM. The Runnin’ Rebels had won six-of-seven as they headed into Friday’s contest with the Lobos.

UNLV scored the first five points to take a 43-40 lead just 90 seconds into the second half.

UNLV’s Jalen Hill had 16 points and four rebounds.

The Runnin’ Rebels were without starting point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. Thomas has missed several of UNLV’s late season games with a shoulder injury.

“Our defense in the second half was much better and we were able to get a win over a good UNLV team,” Pitino said.

Now the Lobos look to be greedy in Las Vegas, Nev. this upcoming week in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. It would be the first UNM MWC Regular Season and Tournament championships in the same season since 2012-13.

The Lobos are the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and they have a first-round bye.