Now it gets tough: Lobos set sights on Nevada
If winning cures all ills, the seasonlong winning streak The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team is on is certainly making life a little easier these days.
But not so fast, bud. The Lobos take a huge step up the food chain Saturday when they head out on the road to face Mountain West Conference preseason favorite Nevada. The Wolf Pack has won three of its last four by double digits, including the league opener Wednesday against a tough Fresno State squad.
At 12-3 overall, Nevada is the defending MWC regular season and tournament champion, and a team that got its boost with a memorable road win in Albuquerque last January when it rallied
from 14 points down in the final minute and a half to send it on its way to the league crown.
A year later and UNM (6-8 overall, 1-0 MWC) has a new coach, a revamped lineup and the prospects of a long rebuilding project while the Wolf Pack (12-3, 1-0) is rolling right along.
Lobos head coach Paul Weir said his team is best suited to stop methodical teams like Evansville and Air Force, teams that exercise patience in the half-court set instead of relying on athleticism and quickness to blow past people. Nevada is hardly the former.
The conference’s preseason favorite has what appears to be the most explosive starting unit in the Mountain West. All five reached double figures in Wednesday’s win at Fresno State and four of them average double figures, led by 6-foot-7 guard Jordan Caroline (16.7 points, 9.0 rebounds). No one in the starting five stands taller than him, but four of the five are listed at 6-7.
It’s not the first time the Lobos have faced a Top 25-caliber team. They’ve played nationally ranked TCU and Arizona, plus Colorado out of the Pac-12, Maryland from the Big Ten and two games against New Mexico State.
“We’ve played very good teams,” Weir said. “I don’t think Nevada’s just overwhelmingly better than any of those teams, but one thing I know off the bat that we’re going to have to do better is rebound the basketball. They’re physical, they’re athletic, they’re going to be
a problem on the glass.”
The smaller Wolf Pack lineup would seem to play into the hands of UNM’s Joe Furstinger, a 6-9 power forward who has averaged a double-double the last three games against teams whose front lines didn’t have a single player taller than him. This team’s different, Weir said, if only from a standpoint of how they play the game.
“I’m excited, I hope our players are excited,” Weir said. “It’s just another team to go take our style to and let’s see if we can have some fun on the road.”
NOTES
The UNM women’s basketball team, fresh off its 88-59 rout at Air Force to open MWC play, will host Nevada (8-4, 1-0) in The Pit at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Wolf Pack comes in riding a five-game winning streak while the Lobos (13-1, 1-0) have yet to lose at home this season.