Lobos get first conference win in front of Cooper, Shaq
UNM survives off shooting night from two star guards as it honors former Laker great, gets surprise visit from another
ALBUQUERQUE — They pulled out all the stops for this one.
It started with Friday’s unveiling of one-off yellow uniforms to honor the state’s 112th birthday, then rolled into Saturday’s meet-and greet on The Pit concourse with Lobos legend Michael Cooper.
Then came the game itself, the University of New Mexico’s conference home opener against Wyoming. As expected, the Lobos made off with a 77-60 Mountain West win in front of 12,611 in The Pit.
The cherry on top came just moments before tipoff when NBA hall of famer — and another former Los Angeles Laker, to boot — Shaquille O’Neal lumbered down the ramp as the red-carpet guest of athletic director Eddie Nuñez. As big in person as he is on TV, the Daddy was presented with a Lobos jersey with his familiar No. 32 on it as fans on all sides took photos.
Amid all that, the Lobos continued to iron out the kinks of their guard-heavy lineup. Jaelen House, Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Donovan Dent all finished in double figures, but its was Dent’s gamehigh 21 points and four assists that led the way on an otherwise cold night for the other two. He said the catalyst was the Lobos’ high-ball pressure that forced 18 Wyoming turnovers in the first half as UNM (13-2, 1-1 Mountain West) opened a 19-point lead.
“This year, that’s our main goal,” he said. “We know we’re going to score on offense; we have three elite guards at scoring the ball. We know on defense that’s where we’ve really got to pick it up. That’s where we’re going to win games every time.”
Wyoming did make things interesting, trimming UNM’s lead to 45-38 five minutes into the second half. That’s as close as things got as the Lobos slowly pulled away.
“Teams make runs all the time,” Dent said. “We’ve just got to stay together and pick it up on the defensive end and get better there.”
Steady play from Dent and Mustapha Amzil down the stretch was more than enough to offset House’s 3-for-15 shooting night, one that included five steals in a brilliant defensive performance.
“I don’t know how many of them he really took were bad shots; I’ll have to go back and look,” said Lobos coach Richard Pitino of House’s play. “I thought [with] five assists he was great at keeping the dribble alive on the baseline.”
Pitino said House is focused on drawing fouls and getting to the line, which may be an issue with his shot selection.
Regardless, the Lobos got the production they needed to bounce back from a road loss to open Mountain West play at Colorado State. Now one week into the conference slate, only three teams league-wide have won on the road at this point.
UNM plays its next game at UNLV before hosting preseason favorite San Diego State next weekend.
“Next game, that’s always got to be the mentality with us,” Pitino said. “I think if we can defend like we do — defense travels, rebounding travels. If we do, I know we’ve got a shot. All these games are really, really hard.”
NOTES
Daddy in the house: O’Neal was in town to perform as a DJ at a local nightclub Saturday night. His connection to UNM comes from his relationship with Nuñez. Nuñez was an associate AD at LSU for 17 years and was there to greet Shaq’s custom ride outside The Pit just before tipoff.
Dent lamented the fact that none of the players got to meet him.
“I definitely saw him coming down the ramp,” he said. “It was just cool to see Shaq on the sideline.”
Coop returns: Cooper was honored during a media timeout in the first half and presented with a No. 22 UNM home jersey. As he left the court he made his way to Shaq’s seat and shared a short embrace as the arena’s video replay board displayed a giant name tag reading, “Welcome former LA Lakers to The Pit.”
You don’t see this often: Wyoming’s Sam Griffin was assessed a technical foul with 6:03 remaining in the game. House was awarded two free throws coming out of a media timeout and immediately sank the first one to open a 64-53 lead.
It was waved off when the referees charged House with a lane violation, one of the rarest calls one will ever see in a basketball game. They ruled that he stepped on the free throw line during the attempt, negating the shot.
Pitino said he’d never seen the call made, let alone of hearing about it.
House made the second attempt, making sure to plant both feet at least 3 inches back. As he headed up court he turned to the ref to give a cheesy smile and two thumbs up.
Stat lines: Nelly Junior Joseph fouled out just one rebound shy of a double double. He had 10 points and nine boards. Eight of his rebounds came at the offensive end.
Defense: Wyoming had 18 points in the game’s first 18 minutes — and 18 turnovers. The Lobos finished the game outscoring the Cowboys 28-0 off turnovers.