Lobos hoping road trip will be right tonic
However, playing at Air Force has been a struggle of late
The Clune doom has been real for the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team.
Not since 2012 has the Lobos basketball team beaten the Air Force Falcons outside of Albuquerque, going 0-3 at Clune Arena on the campus of the U.S. Air Force Academy and 0-1 in Las Vegas, Nev., in the Mountain West tournament.
Of course in that same span, UNM has four wins over Air Force in the Pit by an average 23-point margin. So, it seems, the series has been dictated by geography as much as anything.
But as fans have come to realize, this isn’t exactly a normal season around the Mountain West. That the Lobos (14-10, 7-5 MWC) lost three home games in less than a month, including Saturday’s 78-68 loss to San Jose State, and yet have been much better on the road during league action might be a good sign as they play at Air Force (10-13, 3-7 MWC) tonight.
The Lobos will be playing their third consecutive game without 6-foot-8 senior forward Tim Williams (stress reaction, left foot), who not only provides 17.9 points per game and another capable post defender, but seems to have been the
anchor of the team’s identity. In Williams’ absence, which could last another two to three games, coach Craig Neal has opted not to plug in another big man, instead trying a four-guard scheme with mixed results.
“It’s a work in progress, guys,” Neal said Monday.
Against Air Force’s matchup zone defense, the temptation for UNM’s guard-oriented lineup will be to hoist 3-pointers.
In Mountain West play, Air Force opponents have scored 42.0 percent of their points from the 3-point line (most in the 11-team league) and 40.5 percent on 2-pointers (last in the league).
That’s the opposite profile of what the Lobos’ offense does, or at least what it did with Williams.
UNM leads the league in percentage of its points scored inside the arc (56.0 percent in conference play) and is last in 3-point scoring (20.5 percent). UNM gets its other 23.5 percent of its points in league play on free throws.
“There will be some guys that are capable of playing this game that haven’t played that can make 3-point shots,” said Neal.
Sophomore guard Anthony Mathis, who has averaged just 5.1 minutes in eight games, should see more court time at Air Force as one of the team’s best 3-point shooters. He scored a career high 16 points against Air Force a year ago in the Pit. The Lobos also could get back, though in a limited role, sophomore starting guard Dane Kuiper, who missed both games last week due to a concussion and a broken nose.
“I don’t think we’ll be lured into it,” Neal said of striking a balance between shooting open 3s and realizing that is what Air Force wants them to do. “I think we have one of the best 3-point shooters in the conference in Elijah Brown (his 2.8 made 3s per game rank second in the league, and his 43.6 percent shooting is fourth). I think Dane’s going to be back, so I think that will help. I think Jordan Hunter can make those shots.”
Scoring in transition will be a point of emphasis for the Lobos, who would rather use their quicker lineup to score before a defense is set.
“We’ve got to push the ball and try to get better shots,” Neal said.
BOXING BROWN: Air Force played a triangle-and-2 defense on UNM last year, having one player shadow Brown and another Williams with the other three defenders playing a 1-2 zone. Much like San Jose State did, the Lobos expect one Air Force defender to shadow Brown, with the rest of the Falcons playing a zone.
UNM expects to see plenty of box-and-1 defenses until Williams returns or a consistent scoring option other than Brown emerges.