Pretty as a picture

Lobos men’s basketball win over Rice

If Sunday’s (Dec.13) early returns are any indication, the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team is going to lean heavily on a low-post game led by the one player fans have been aching to see for about a year now.

Bayron Matos, a barrel-chested 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman who’s built like an NFL tight end and has the playful personality of a class clown, scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in his debut, helping UNM to a seasonopening 72-61 win over Rice on Sunday afternoon in Houston.

He and the rest of the Lobos’ bigs dominated the glass, outrebounding the Owls, 49-30, and outscoring them in the paint, 40-12.

Matos said he felt the nerves before Sunday’s game, largely because he has been a Lobo since last January and was on the team’s active roster throughout its ugly stumble through the Mountain West Conference schedule the final two months of the season. He opted to use a redshirt year instead of playing.

It was not an easy decision. “I was that close right here,” he laughed, nearly pinching his thumb and forefinger together as he spoke. “I was that close.”

Penciled-in as UNM’s go-to guy in the paint, he, Rod Brown and Valdir Manuel were a constant presence in the paint against Rice. Brown had 11 points and seven rebounds, while Manuel had nine points and half a dozen boards.

“A big part of our identity is being able to rebound the ball,” said UNM coach Paul Weir. “It’s been a big part of our preseason emphasis.”

Senior guard Makuach Maluach had a dozen rebounds and a game-high 23 points, shaking off a so-so preseason camp by playing like the veteran leader Weir needs him to be. It was just two weeks ago that Weir said the 6-foot-7 Maluach was playing like a freshman, making the kinds of mistakes a player much younger might.

Against the Owls (4-1), he was the best player on the floor. He said Weir’s message of being the stabilizing force on a team full of fresh faces sank in.

There are a dozen players new to the Lobos this season and Maluach is the only returning starter. Throughout his career he has sacrificed his own comfort in the need for the greater good, often playing out of position in order to help team chemistry and carry Weir’s message.

“We have a bunch of guys that never played college basketball,” Maluach said. “Just wanted to come out there and set the tone.”

The Lobos led almost the entire way, taking a six-point lead at halftime. Their main hiccups were a glaring lack of 3-point shooting (just 4-for-17) and far too many turnovers (15).

Of Rice’s 19 made-baskets, 13 came from 3-point range. But the Owls simply had no answer against UNM’s bigger, more athletic players down low. They shot just 6-for-21 inside the 3-point arc.

Part of UNM’s problems from the outside, Weir said, was a simple lack of on-court flow. The Lobos are still getting used to one another and the 15 scholarship players on the roster are busy competing for what will become an 11-man rotation.

As for the rest, Weir said the challenge now is settling into roles, something the Lobos will have a chance to do before departing Houston later this week.

UNM faced National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics program, Our Lady of the Lake, on Tuesday at Rice, and will likely play again Thursday night (Dec. 17) against an unnamed opponent.

After that is the Mountain Westopening series at Boise State on Dec. 21.

“We need all the practice time we can get,” Weir said.