LOBOS-AGGIES WRAP
Depending on your allegiances, NMSU’s big win was a thing of beauty or terribly ugly
LAS CRUCES — Here are some extra notes from Tuesday night’s Rio Grande Rivalry rout —New Mexico State 100, UNM 65.
Seeing green
When Chris Jans was hired to replace Paul Weir in 2017 as the new men’s basketball coach at New Mexico State, one thing was made very clear to him from Day One: Beating the rivals — remember, NMSU has two of them that they play four times in nonconference games every season —was vital.
“I don’t think about it too much,” Jans said. “Certainly (people) have made notice of it. … So each year, we try to make sure that (the players) who are new to this program understand what this means.”
So much so, in fact, that NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia put his (school’s) money where his mouth is and included incentives in Jans’ coaching contract for rivalry wins. Added this year was another bonus for any win against a “Power 5” conference program, which NMSU happened to get on Saturday with a home win over Washington State of the Pac 12.
So, just looking at this season, Jans is now up to $25,000 in bonuses. They come from:
$5,000: Beating UTEP 96-69 in Las Cruces on Nov. 9
$5,000: Beating UNM 98-94 in Albuquerque on Nov. 17
$5,000: Beating UTEP 62-58 in El Paso on Nov. 28
$5,000: Beating Washington State 69-63 in Las Cruces on Saturday
$5,000: Beating UNM 100-65 in Las Cruces on Tuesday
So, to sum up just how dominant against the rivals Jans has been in his first two seasons, here we go: He is the first coach in NMSU history to sweep UTEP (4-0) and UNM (4-0) in his first two seasons running the program.
Pregame scuffle
There is no news from either camp — NMSU or UNM — on whether there will be any discipline handed down as a result of the pregame scuffle that reportedly had punches thrown,
though with nobody from either school going on the record saying they know for sure who threw them.
No coaches were on the court when it happened. The Journal didn’t witness it. A picture taken moments after it started from Daily Lobo staffer Cameron Goeldner shows players being separated and Lobo Corey Manigault with arms up around his head either in a defensive position or in a position seemingly gearing up to throw a punch.
Goeldner stated he saw Shunn Buchanan throw a punch and Corey be pulled away prior to throwing one. Two NMSU employees courtside told the Journal both sides threw punches.
A follow-up post on Goeldner’s Twitter feed stated: “Here’s a shot from after the punch was thrown,” he posted. “The other Lobos stayed out of it for the most part, other than a brief exchange between (Lobo Anthony) Mathis and one of the Aggies. (Lobo Corey) Manigault and (Aggie) Shunn Buchanan were jawing on Instagram earlier today.”
Neither coach wanted to go into too much detail about the fight on Tuesday since neither was there and neither knew details.
No player was pulled from Tuesday’s game as a result of the pregame fracas.
Said Weir: “I was actually told about it just before the game. I discussed it immediately after the game. I don’t know what prompted it. I don’t know enough details to comment on who started it or who was involved, but I was incredibly disappointed and I explained that to our team after the game. We spoke at length prior to this game about being emotionally stable and just competing . ... Regardless, I was extremely disappointed.”
He said it
Just how emotional was Paul Weir on Tuesday night? When asked by a television journalist if there was anything he’d want to say to Lobo fans who might be upset, here was his answer:
“‘Sorry’ doesn’t do it any justice,” Weir said. “I’m sorry. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. It’s as embarrassed and as humiliated as one can be . ... If there’s any solace, I’m feeling a million times worse than anything they can imagine. It’s up to me to impress that on our players as well. I hope they feel that way and I explained to them the embarrassment they brought to us, to our institution, to our program. Unfortunately that’s done with and we have another game in three days. And it’s my job to not allow what is an extraordinarily brutal evening perpetuate into more.”
Final stat sheet
The box score didn’t make it on the Associated Press wire in time to make the deadline for Wednesday’s Journal print edition.
So here it is. Aggie fans may want to frame it. Lobo fans, if you’re still even with us by this point of the column, look at your own risk . ...