# 2021–22 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team

The 2021–22 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team represented the University of New Mexico during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lobos were led by first-year head coach Richard Pitino and played their home games at The Pit as members of the Mountain West Conference.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Lobos finished the 2021–21 season 6–16, 2–15 in Mountain West play to finish in last place. In the Mountain West tournament, they lost in the first round to Fresno State.
Prior to the end of the season, the school announced that Paul Weir would not return as head coach. On March 16, 2021, the school named former Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino the team's new head coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Isaiah Marin | 0 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Freshman | Phoenix, AZ | Transferred to Indian Hills CC |
| Bayron Matos | 1 | F | 6'9" | 215 | RS Freshman | Santo Domingo, DR | Transferred to South Florida |
| Keith McGee | 3 | G | 6'3" | 180 | RS Senior | Rochester, NY | Graduate transferred to Morgan State |
| Rod Brown | 5 | F | 6'8" | 218 | RS Junior | Memphis, TN | Transferred to Jacksonville |
| Makuach Maluach | 10 | G/F | 6'5" | 190 | Senior | Sydney, Australia | Graduated |
| Daniel Headdings | 12 | G | 6'2" | 185 | RS Freshman | Wasilla, AK | Transferred to Pima CC |
| Logan Padgett | 14 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Sophomore | Homewood, AL | Transferred to Shelton State CC |
| Nolan Doresey | 21 | G | 6'5" | 185 | Freshman | Knightdale, NC | Transferred to Holy Cross |
| Eloy Medina | 23 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Freshman | Albuquerque, NM | Walk-on; transferred |
| Kurt Wegscheider | 30 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Sophomore | Bangui, Central African Republic | Transferred |
| Assane Ndiaye | 35 | F | 7'1" | 240 | Junior | Dakar, Senegal | Transferred |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous college |
| KJ Jenkins | 0 | G | 6'2" | 165 | Junior | Atlanta, GA | Junior college transferred from Kilgore College. |
| Jamal Mashburn Jr. | 5 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Sophomore | Miami, FL | Transferred from Minnesota. |
| Jaelen House | 10 | G | 6'1" | 160 | Junior | Phoenix, AZ | Transferred from Arizona State. |
| Jay Allen-Tovar | 21 | F | 6'9" | 230 | Junior | San Jose, CA | Junior college transferred from Salt Lake CC. |
| Taryn Todd | 24 | G | 6'5" | 180 | RS Sophomore | Vaughan, ON | Transferred from TCU. |
| Gethro Muscadin | 35 | C | 6'10" | 220 | Sophomore | Gonaïves, Haiti | Transferred from Kansas. |

### 2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Sebastian Forsling C | Gothenburg, Sweden | Rig Academy | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Apr 20, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Birima Seck C | Glendale, AZ | Dream City Christian | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | May 21, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 5, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | New Mexico Highlands | W 101–72 | | 18 – Tied | 11 – Johnson | 8 – House | The Pit (7,182) Albuquerque, NM |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 10, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | Florida Atlantic | W 99–92 | 1–0 | 30 – House | 8 – Allen-Tovar | 6 – House | The Pit (8,553) Albuquerque, NM |
| November 13, 2021* 4:30 p.m., P12N | | at Colorado | L 76–87 | 1–1 | 22 – House | 5 – Tied | 4 – House | CU Events Center (7,115) Boulder, CO |
| November 15, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | Grambling State | W 86–61 | 2–1 | 18 – Tied | 10 – Johnson | 7 – House | The Pit (8,010) Albuquerque, NM |
| November 20, 2021* 2:00 p.m. | | Montana State | W 81–78 | 3–1 | 21 – Mashburn, Jr. | 10 – Muscadin | 4 – Mashburn, Jr. | The Pit (9,084) Albuquerque, NM |
| November 22, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | Western New Mexico | W 88–63 | 4–1 | 20 – Jenkins | 10 – Seck | 7 – Francis, III | The Pit (8,047) Albuquerque, NM |
| November 25, 2021* 5:00 p.m., FS1 | | vs. UAB Las Vegas Invitational Semifinals | L 73–86 | 4–2 | 26 – Mashburn, Jr. | 5 – House | 5 – House | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 26, 2021* 7:00 p.m., FS2 | | vs. Towson Las Vegas Invitational Consolation – 3rd Place | L 58–73 | 4–3 | 26 – Mashburn, Jr. | 8 – Johnson | 4 – House | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 30, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at New Mexico State Rio Grande Rivalry | W 101–94 | 5–3 | 31 – House | 11 – Allen-Tovar | 5 – House | Pan American Center Las Cruces, NM |
| December 6, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | New Mexico State Rio Grande Rivalry | L 76-78 $^{OT}$ | 5-4 | 26 – Mashburn Jr. | 11 – Allen | 3 – Mashburn Jr. | The Pit (13,019) Albuquerque, NM |
| December 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | Denver | W 87-67 | 6-4 | 21 – Jenkins | 11 – Muscadin | 2 – Tied | The Pit (8,046) Albuquerque, NM |
| December 12, 2021* 1:00 p.m., Stadium | | UTEP Rivalry | L 69–77 | 6–5 | 16 – Johnson | 10 – Johnson | 5 – Singleton | The Pit (9,044) Albuquerque, NM |
| December 19, 2021* 1:00 p.m., Stadium | | SMU | L 72–90 | 6–6 | 25 – Mashburn, Jr. | 5 – Todd | 7 – House | The Pit (8,394) Albuquerque, NM |
| December 21, 2021* 1:00 p.m. | | Norfolk State | W 68–54 | 7–6 | 16 – House | 10 – Allen-Tovar | 6 – House | The Pit (8,105) Albuquerque, NM |
| Mountain West regular season |||||||||
| January 1, 2022 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Nevada | L 70–79 | 7–7 (0–1) | 18 – House | 9 – Kuac | 6 – House | Lawlor Events Center (7,224) Reno, NV |
| January 8, 2022 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Utah State | L 87–90 $^{OT}$ | 7–8 (0–2) | 29 – Mashburn Jr. | 6 – Tied | 8 – Mashburn Jr. | The Pit (8,338) Albuquerque, NM |
| January 11, 2022 9:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at UNLV | L 56–85 | 7–9 (0–3) | 26 – Jenkins | 7 – House | 3 – House | Thomas & Mack Center (3,860) Paradise, NV |
| January 15, 2022 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | San Diego State Rivalry | Canceled | Canceled | Canceled | Canceled | Canceled | The Pit Albuquerque, NM |
| January 15, 2022 3:30 p.m., FS1 | | Boise State Moved from February 8 | L 63–71 | 7–10 (0–4) | 21 – House | 8 – Forsling | 7 – House | The Pit (8,279) Albuquerque, NM |
| January 19, 2022 8:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Colorado State | L 74–80 | 7–11 (0–5) | 18 – Johnson | 5 – Jenkins | 7 – House | Moby Arena (6,516) Fort Collins, CO |
| January 22, 2022 5:30 p.m., CBSSN | | at Wyoming | L 91–93 | 7–12 (0–6) | 25 – Allen-Tovar | 6 – Allen-Tovar | 4 – Tied | Arena-Auditorium (5,368) Laramie, WY |
| January 25, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | Fresno State | L 60–65 | 7–13 (0–7) | 19 – House | 7 – Allen-Tovar | 5 – House | The Pit (8,033) Albuquerque, NM |
| January 28, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | San José State | W 86–70 | 8–13 (1–7) | 23 – Mashburn, Jr. | 7 – Tied | 13 – House | The Pit (8,277) Albuquerque, NM |
| January 31, 2022 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | at San Diego State Rivalry | L 47–72 | 8–14 (1–8) | 16 – Jenkins | 9 – Jenkins | 3 – Mashburn, Jr. | Viejas Arena (10,951) San Diego, CA |
| February 5, 2022 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Air Force | W 91–77 | 9–14 (2–8) | 42 – House | 9 – Allen-Tovar | 2 – Tied | Clune Arena (2,723) Colorado Springs, CO |
| February 11, 2022* 7:00 p.m., MWN | | Northern New Mexico | W 78–46 | 10–14 | 21 – Mashburn, Jr. | 5 – House | 10 – Forsling | The Pit (8,214) Albuquerque, NM |
| February 15, 2022 7:00 p.m., Stadium | | No. 22 Wyoming | W 75–66 | 11–14 (3–8) | 34 – House | 8 – Allen-Tovar | 6 – House | The Pit (8,208) Albuquerque, NM |
| February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., Mountain West Network | | Colorado State Originally scheduled for Dec. 28 | L 68–83 | 11–15 (3–9) | 17 – Tied | 7 – Allen-Tovar | 4 – Mashburn, Jr. | The Pit (8,404) Albuquerque, NM |
| February 19, 2022 2:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at San José State | L 55–71 | 11–16 (3–10) | 17 – Mashburn, Jr. | 5 – Jenkins | 3 – Singleton | Provident Credit Union Event Center (1,682) San Jose, CA |
| February 22, 2022 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Utah State | L 56–81 | 11–17 (3–11) | 13 – Mashburn Jr. | 6 – Allen-Tovar | 3 – Mashburn Jr. | Smith Spectrum (7,102) Logan, UT |
| February 26, 2022 2:00 p.m., Stadium | | Air Force | W 69–65 | 12–17 (4–11) | 24 – Mashburn, Jr. | 12 – Allen-Tovar | 2 – Tied | The Pit (9,089) Albuquerque, NM |
| February 28, 2022 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Fresno State | L 68–71 | 12–18 (4–12) | 27 – Mashburn, Jr. | 9 – Johnson | 4 – House | Save Mart Center Fresno, CA |
| March 5, 2022 9:00 p.m., FS1 | | UNLV | W 76–67 | 13–18 (5–12) | 27 – House | 7 – Arroyo | 5 – House | The Pit (9,404) Albuquerque, NM |
| Mountain West tournament |||||||||
| March 9, 2022 12:00 p.m., Stadium | (9) | vs. (8) Nevada First Round | L 72–79 | 13–19 | 19 – House | 7 – Singleton | 7 – House | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. |||||||||
Source