New Mexico vs. St. Mary’s

Today, 5 p.m., Los Angeles. NO TV. Online: Flosports.TV (pay site). Radio: 770 AM/94.5 FM. Odds: SMC by 6.

What you need to know about the Lobos: Corey Manigault, the junior forward who was seen on a video throwing a punch at an NMSU Aggies player before Tuesday’s game after one was first thrown at him (but he clearly was walking through Aggies players and bumping them before the scuffle, just as he did before the Nov. 17 game in Albuquerque), is not expected to play as a result, though he did make the trip to Los Angeles. PG Drue Drinnon is coming off clearly his best college game when many of his teammates struggled Tuesday in Las Cruces. Drinnon had 13 points in the loss to NMSU.

What you need to know about the Gaels: It may seem like there’s some familiarity with the Gaels and Lobos (there’s a player named Jordan Hunter, a guy named Krebs and even former Lobo Cullen Neal played for them a season ago). Nevertheless, the teams have only played twice (UNM won both in Albuquerque, in 1968 and 2001). The Gaels are by far the highest rated offensive team the Lobos have played this season (24th nationally out of 353 teams in offensive efficiency) but do so in a slow, deliberate manner that doesn’t lead to a lot of turnovers. UNM’s defense has struggled against teams that don’t turn it over and NMSU, the next highest rated offense on UNM’s schedule so far (109th) averaged 99.0 points in two wins vs. the Lobos. SMC’s best scorer is a short guard, the Achilles’ heel often this season for the Lobos.