LOBOS NOTCH A WIN
New Mexico picks up a needed victory, downing the Nevada Wolf Pack, 71-66
RENO, Nev. — Just so there wasn’t any doubt whether it was really them, the New Mexico Lobos did find a way to make Saturday night’s Mountain West regular-season finale far more dramatic than necessary in the closing minutes.
In the end, though, the Lobos snapped a four-game losing streak, beating Nevada 71-66 to secure the No. 4 seed in this week’s league tournament in Las Vegas, Nev.
In some respects, the fact that the Lobos (17-14, 10-8) struggled down the stretch but answered the Wolf Pack’s furious rally when they needed to might mean more in the long run.
“Of course,” Cullen Neal fired back with a big smile when asked whether Saturday night’s game was what the locker room needed. “A road win against a top five team in the league? You can’t ask for nothing better for that (heading into the tournament). ... I feel like everybody came out with energy, and as a team, we kind of found a love for the game and realized, dang, we still have a chance for an NCAA Tournament berth.”
Indeed, three wins in Las Vegas will land the Lobos in the NCAA Tournament. But first, they get a rematch with No. 5 seed Nevada (18-12, 10-8 MWC) in Thursday’s quarterfinals. In that game the Wolf Pack is expected to again have the services of leading scorer Marqueze Coleman, who sat out his third consecutive game Saturday with a sprained ankle.
For the Lobos, though, it didn’t matter who Saturday’s win came against.
“I think you need any of it just to go into the tournament,” said Lobos coach Craig Neal about the importance of getting Saturday’s win. “I think you need a win or a little bit of momentum. ... You can see it on them. They want to … they don’t want to disappoint.”
UNM led by as many as 20 midway through the second half. A big reason why was the tone Cullen Neal set in the first half when he had 11 of his 16 points and four of his game-high six assists.
“Just trying to get back to being myself,” Neal said. “Just trying to let go of everything and have fun with the game
I love. I feel like all of us did that tonight.”
Elijah Brown had a teamhigh 17 points, and Lobo big men Tim Williams (11) and Obij Aget (12) combined for 23 points. Aget added 14 rebounds and two blocks and, maybe most impressive considering recent struggles, zero fouls.
UNM had 18 second-chance points, out-rebounded Nevada 44-30 and shot 45.6 percent in the game compared with 36.8 for the Wolf Pack. Nevada had three players score in double figures, led by Tyron Criswell’s 20.
Still, the Lobos tried making things more interesting than they needed to late.
Leading by 17, Neal had a layup blocked with 5:48 left, and he then spouted off to a referee earning a technical foul. Nevada’s D.J. Fenner hit both free throws to cut the lead to 63-48.
About a minute later, with the Lobos again leading by 17, Elijah Brown threw a threequarter court outlet pass that was stolen — the second it left his hands coach Neal could be heard yelling “No! No!”
That led to a 6-0 Nevada run that included another Brown turnover on the next possession, an offensive foul and then a flagrant foul called on Brown.
But as Nevada chipped away, the Lobos, unlike in recent weeks, responded with defensive stops — at least enough to pull off a muchneeded win.
“When somebody’s coming at you like that, you’ve got to keep your composure,” Craig Neal said. “And we’ve got to get better at that.”
At least for this night, they were good enough.