No. 11 New Mexico Slips in Seattle

Deon Luton missed 14 of his first 16 shots, but hit his last five and was perfect from the free-throw line as Washington dropped No. 11 New Mexico from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 70-61 victory Thursday afternoon in Seattle.

“I always believe the next shot’s going to fall,” Luton said. “I don’t believe I’m going to miss 20 shots.”

Luton scored 10 of his 22 points in the final seven minutes as Washington pulled away. He was eight of eight from the free-throw line.

It was the first road game of the season for New Mexico (8-1), and a clash between two of the best centers in the country, Washington’s Todd MacCulloch and New Mexico’s Kenny Thomas.

The 7-foot MacCulloch, who led the nation in field-goal percentage the last two seasons, scored 21 points, was nine for nine from the field and grabbed 14 rebounds for Washington (6-3).

Thomas scored 26 points for New Mexico, and John Robinson II and Greg Davis each added 12..

New Mexico’s Lamont Long, who entered the game averaging 24.1 points a game, and was the nation’s leading scorer as recently as Dec. 14, played 40 minutes and was held scoreless.