Maybe it was 615 days of pent up frustration between Lobo men’s basketball games being played in the Pit that was oozing out of the hardwood on Bob King Court.
Maybe Jamal Mashburn Jr., the sophomore transfer from Minnesota who followed his coach out west this past offseason to start a new chapter of his basketball journey, is just that good.
Whatever it was, when the 6-foot-2 guard collected a loose ball with 7 minutes, 38 seconds left on the clock, weaved his way around New Mexico Highlands University defenders, raced the length of the floor and rose up for the type of head above the rim dunk in traffic, Mashburn left the Pit crowd, and his teammates, in shock.