New Mexico Lobos vs. Fresno State Bulldogs Prediction & Game Preview - 2/28/2022

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Venue: Save Mart Center, Fresno, CA

Where to watch: N/A

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New Mexico: 12-17 (4-11 Mountain West)

Fresno State: 17-10 (7-7 Mountain West)

You know you can get really excited for a game in the Mountain West Conference when the two teams facing each other are coming off wins against the Air Force Falcons, and you know which team was the better team by the time both games ended.

On one hand you have the New Mexico lobos, a very pitiful team this season that has not found much winning success but it's still trying as hard as and will get a trip to Las Vegas out of it in a couple weeks only to get bounced in the first round of the conference tournament.

And then you have the Fresno State Bulldogs who were on a tailspin of a nosedive for the last couple of weeks, but a 25 point victory over Air Force has stopped the bleeding momentarily and Fresno State got back on track last Tuesday.

It's also a battle between two teams who are on the different sides of the spectrum as far as rest. New Mexico played as recently as Saturday in their home victory over Air Force, while Fresno State is going to be playing its first game in almost a week and for the Bulldogs, this rest could not have come at a better time.

Fresno State big man Orlando Robinson finished with 26 points on 8 of 12 shooting and also grabbed 6 rebounds in Fresno State's dominant victory. the Bulldogs played every player available on their roster and shot 57.5% from the floor, winning the game despite only shooting five of 14 from 3 point range. Isaiah hill was the only other player to score in double figures with 15 points.

So if you do the math two players on Fresno State outscored the entire Air Force team. I mean, how bad do you need to be this season in order to accept the reality that you are just horrible? This isn't a slight on Fresno State, or even New Mexico. But Air Force is hot garbage and they shot only 30% from the floor and seven of 28 from 3 point range. They only grabbed 15 total rebounds for the entire game and allowed 35 from Fresno State. Somehow they turned the ball over three fewer times than Fresno State and still got run out of the building.

That win was weeks of frustration pent up for Fresno State and they took care of business in a rather emphatic way. And they'll get the opportunity to do that again against the New Mexico team that is certainly not a celebration of the teams of New Mexico pass.

New Mexico was actually LED, and you'll be ready to feel really old after this is all said and done, by Jamal Mashburn Jr. after scoring 24 points in the Lobos victory. the son of the former NBA All Star did take twenty shots to get to those 24 points, very similar to the days of his dad, but New Mexico still got the victory and they needed one badly especially after trailing by six points after the first half.

Air Force clearly learned the error of its ways on Saturday having shot 45% from the floor, but still shot 4 of 17 from 3 point range. That abysmal shooting was clearly unmatched by New Mexico going two of 16 from 3 point range, but New Mexico still won the game despite shooting 38.9% from the floor. Again, I still don't understand how college basketball works to this extent but it is really one of the weirdest art forms of our lifetime.

I don't think you need to think any harder for this game period this is clearly a matchup where one team is greater than the other on a bizarre scale the likes of which no one can really comprehend. New Mexico at this juncture is just not a good basketball team and they probably will not be a good basketball team for a very long time. Fresno State isn't any better but at least we know the town discrepancies between both programs indicate that Fresno State is going to likely dominate this game in every single facet one way or the other period if it's not shooting, it's going to be rebounding. If it's not going to be rebounding they're going to be blocking shots and New Mexico is not going to have a single answer to anything Fresno State throws at them. Fresno State by 15

The under is 19-8 when New Mexico plays its third game in a week.

Fresno State is 12-3 ATS as a favorite this season.

Fresno State is 12-21 ATS after playing a road game.

PG: Jaelen House

SG: K.J. Jenkins

SF: Jamal Mashburn Jr.

PF: Javonte Johnson

C: Jay Allen-Tovar

PG: Isaiah Hill

SG: Jordan Campbell

SF: Anthony Holland

PF: Leo Colimerio

C: Orlando Robinson

Points: Jamal Mashburn Jr. -- 17.9

Rebounds: Gethro Muscadin -- 5.3

Assists: Jaelen House -- 2.1

Points: Orlando Robinson -- 18.1

Rebounds: Orlando Robinson -- 8.1

Assists: Isaiah Hill -- 3.0