STILL UNBEATEN
Lobo women take 6-0 mark into today’s game
NICEVILLE, Fla. — It wasn’t over before it started, but it was close.
The Maryland Terrapins stormed out to a 24-point lead in the first 8½ minutes of Saturday’s Emerald Coast Classic consolation game, cruising from there for a comfortable 80-65 men’s basketball victory against the New Mexico Lobos on the campus of Northwest Florida State College.
“After that, I thought we played a good game,” said first-year Lobos coach Paul Weir. “But you’re not going to come back against a team like Maryland once you’re down 27-3. There’s just not enough bullets in the gun. So, unfortunately, the start to the game ended up being the game.”
The loss is the fourth in a row for the Lobos (2-4), who entered the game feeling it was on the uptick after a near upset Friday night of TCU in the same gym.
Instead, just two weeks into the season, the program is searching for answers as what was expected to be a good-shooting
roster again shot itself out of a game against a team with too much size.
“We’ve got to win Wednesday,” Weir said of the Lobos’ next game, Wednesday night in Dreamstyle Arena against visiting Evansville. “It’s as simple as that. And I’m not a must-win guy. I’m not a scoreboard kind of guy. But I told them we have to get back into a happy locker room on Wednesday.
“Again, I’m not really into a lot of that stuff. It’s really about how we play as opposed to the outcome, but eventually things are outcome-driven. We need one. It’s not a fun place to be for any of us.”
By the time the second media timeout came with 11:28 left in the first half, Maryland (6-1) was leading 27-3 and had hit 10 of its first 13 shots, including six 3-pointers and seven assists.
In the same span, the Lobos shot 1-of-12, had seven turnovers and starters Sam Logwood and Joe Furstinger each had already picked up two fouls.
UNM calmed the chaos a bit from then on, using an 8-0 run, including a pair of Anthony Mathis 3-pointers, to cut the deficit to 34-19 with 6:34 remaining in the half. At game’s end, UNM closed on an 11-2 run to make the final margin of defeat approach the 12½ -point spread by which the Terps were favored.
Maryland shot 52.2 percent and was 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from 3-point range. The Terrapins got a game-high 21 points from guard Anthony Cowan and 16 from Justin Jackson, one of several Terrapins whose size stymied Lobo perimeter shooters all game long.
UNM shot 33.3 percent (21-of-63) overall and 9-of-29 (31.0 percent) from 3-point range.
Chris McNeal had a team-high 19 points, and backup guard Anthony Mathis scored all 12 of his points from beyond the 3-point line. No other Lobo scored in double figures. Sam Logwood, who scored a career-high 27 in Friday’s 69-67 loss to TCU and was named to the All-Tournament team, had just eight points and five turnovers on Saturday.
Lobo guards Antino Jackson (0-for-10/0-for-7 from 3), Troy Simons (1-7/1-5) and Dane Kuiper (1-7/0-3) combined to shoot 2-of-24 (8.3 percent) from the floor and 1-of-15 (6.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
“I trust that they’re good shooters,” Weir said. “Dane and Antino have both been successful 3-point shooters in their career. We just have to hopefully trust that they’re going to come through this and make some shots at some point.”
MTEs: In the past five seasons in non-conference “multi-team exempt” (MTE) tournaments, UNM is 5-11. The Lobos were 4-8 under Craig Neal and went 1-3 in the Emerald Coast Classic, which included home games against Omaha and Tennessee Tech.