Lobos men to defend title in Sin City
Three-time champion UNM starts MWC tournament against Air Force
All season, The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team talked about the small pleasures of escaping the fishbowl that is a home game in The Pit. It’s on the road, the players said, that the team has had a chance to focus on the game and not worry about the pressure of playing in front of 15,000 fans who live and die on virtually every trip down the floor.
The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., is technically a road venue, that’s true. But it’s also affectionately known as The Pit West thanks to the throngs of Lobo fans who flock there every March for the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
The magic (and noise) created within that building have worked wonders for UNM in recent years. The Lobos have won nine straight postseason games in the Shark Tank, each time winning the league title and securing a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
The Lobos are back in their home away from home this week for the MWC tourney, albeit with significantly diminished expectations. At 15-15 overall, they are seeded No. 8 in the 10-team, single-elimination event. That means they’ll have to win four games in as many days to extend their magic carpet ride in Sin City.
New Mexico takes on No. 9 Air Force (13-16) at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The winner moves into Thursday’s quarterfinals against regular season champion Boise State.
“Hopefully we’ll play up to our capabilities, and anything’s possible,” said UNM head coach Craig Neal. “We are the three-time defending champ, so until somebody knocks us down, then that’s the way we’ll approach it.”
To say the odds of making it a four-peat aren’t great is an understatement. Not only have the Lobos struggled virtually all season, but they have lost three key players to season-ending injuries. The latest was a broken hand suffered by leading scorer and rebounder Deshawn Delaney.
Some confusion surrounded the details of that injury. Originally Neal said it occurred March 4 in practice, but a local media member said he witnessed Delaney get hurt in practice the next day.
No matter, Neal said. Delaney is out with a broken bone.
“Sad deal, sad deal,” Neal said. “I feel for him, but he’s going to be good. I’m just trying to make sure our players stay in touch with him and I stay in touch with him as much as he wants so he doesn’t get down.”
The win over Wyoming to close out the regular season restored at least a little bit of hope for the players that remain, Neal said. It had been more than a month since the team had tasted a win. Their streak began with a loss at Air Force the first week of February, a game where the Lobos went the final seven minutes without scoring a single point in a 53-49 loss.
“They [Air Force] beat us last time because we couldn’t score 50 points, so we’ll have to get a good game plan, we’ll have to go in there and make some shots and play with a lot of energy and defend. Really confident in our guys to be prepared and be ready.”
But is he confident enough to see his team pull off a minor miracle in its home away from home?
The first step comes Wednesday afternoon.
NOTES
Wednesday’s game will not be televised, but fans with internet access can still see the game. It will be streamed live on the Mountain West’s website at www.themw.com. It requires a fast connection, however. … Neal said he liked the way sophomore forward Devon Williams played in the win over Wyoming on senior day. “He played like the Devon we saw earlier in the year, and we need him to be like that,” Neal said. … UNLV is the tournament host, but both its men’s and women’s teams failed to get byes out of the first round — a fact that could actually boost attendance since the so-called “pigtail games” are generally not well-attended.