LOBOS IN VEGAS
UNM hopes to make a run in the MWC Tournament beginning today
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Sunday night, the Lobos gathered for a team dinner and brief meeting to start the preparation for a run at a Mountain West tournament title.
Craig Neal had shed the goodluck cherry blazer he wore on Saturday’s Senior Night, when his University of New Mexico men’s basketball team picked up a much-needed win over San Diego State to secure the No. 5 seed in this week’s tournament. The fifth-seeded Lobos play a quarterfinal today against No. 4 Fresno State.
Neal wasn’t wearing the coat Sunday. He instead tried to make a point with another fashion statement: the ring commemorating the 2009 Mountain West regular-season co-championship he earned as a UNM assistant.
Then on Monday, it was the 2010 championship ring.
Tuesday, the 2012 ring that celebrated a co-regular-season title and a tournament championship.
Wednesday, the 2013 ring for winning the regular season and tournament titles.
Today, the plan is to wear the 2014 MWC tournament championship ring he earned in his first season as head coach. The message is clear. “We’re about winning championships,” Neal said earlier this week. “That’s the goal.”
The Lobos aren’t the favorites. In fact, they’re in a historically tough spot. The fifth seed has gone 5-12 in quarterfinal games in the 17-year history of the tournament and advanced to the championship once.
And the road ahead isn’t easy. Defending tourney champ
Fresno State (19-11) has won five straight, including by 10 points over the Lobos (17-13) on Feb. 18 in Fresno, Calif. The likely semifinal matchup waiting the winner is No. 1 Nevada, the regular-season champion that swept UNM in the regular season.
With the return of senior power forward Tim Williams from a foot injury after he missed seven games, UNM is confident it can beat anybody in the bracket.
“With Tim playing, we beat everybody except Nevada,” said Neal, whose Lobos were up 25 points in the second half against Nevada before a historic comeback for the Wolf Pack set up their season sweep of UNM. “With Tim not playing, some of the return games that we had already won, we weren’t able to get. So, (his return) gives us confidence.”
Fresno State is at its best with a physical, aggressive defense (8.6 steals a game ranks the Bulldogs No. 14 in the country in steal percentage per possession). But that style also plays into UNM’s hands if the referees are calling a tight game.
UNM leads the nation in free throw rate. When it beat Fresno State on Dec. 28 to open league play, UNM attempted 34 free throws, hitting 29. When it lost at Fresno State last month, it attempted just 17 free throws and had 19 turnovers against pressure.
But that was without Williams, which allowed Fresno State to focus entirely on Elijah Brown. He should benefit most from the return of the league’s top low-post scorer.
Consider his splits vs. Fresno State when Williams has played and hasn’t. With Williams on the court in three games vs. the Bulldogs the past two seasons, Brown averaged 20.3 points and attempted 11.3 free throws per game (he is 31-for-34 from the line in those games).
In the game without Williams, Brown shot 4-for-12 with 11 points, six turnovers and attempted just three free throws.
“I think (Williams’) presence on the floor does a lot of things, especially, you can tell, with Elijah,” Neal said. “People can’t target Elijah.”