New Mexico got its first home win of 2017 on Saturday by taking down the Wyoming Cowboys 78-71, on a night that was a good one for current and former Lobos.
The win came in front of former Lobo great Danny Granger, who was in attendance as an analyst for CBS Sports Network.
UNM head coach Craig Neal said the team talked about how important protecting home court would be for the rest of the season, and the team took a step in the right direction.
“We are going one step in the journey,” Neal said. ”We have a lot of games left. I like where we are, I like the way my team is playing.”
The Lobos pulled the win in large part due to Elijah Brown erupting for 33 points on 12-of-25 shooting from the field. He said he was happy about the win, even though it may not have been his best performance.
“I just tried to get to my spots and just tried to shoot the same shots that I shoot in practice everyday. I still missed too many,” Brown said.
The second highest scorer for the Lobos was Tim Williams, who got 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting and an aching foot.
“His foot has been bothering him so he didn’t practice for two days,” Neal said. “He looked a little ‘not in the flow,’ but he battled through it and looked terrific, made some big plays for us.”
Wyoming got on the board first with a 3-pointer by Alexander Gorski and continued to lead for the first five minutes of the game. At the 15:21 mark, a 3-pointer by Dane Kuiper made the score 9-8 in favor of New Mexico.
The first media timeout didn’t come until the 11:41 mark. Neal said he wasn’t a huge fan of the pace of the game, but there wasn’t much too much to complain about since his team was up 16-13 at the time.
The Lobos led for most of the half, while the Cowboys managed to stay within single digits, trailing by as much as eight points.
The Cowboys closed out strong in the final minute of the period, sending a message to the Lobos that they would have to grind for a win. A 3-pointer by Gorksi tied the game 37-37 with 47 seconds left.
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Jordan Hunter got to the free throw line for the Lobos with 17 seconds remaining, making one shot to give his team a one-point advantage. But with four seconds left, it was Wyoming’s Justin James who got on the foul line and sent both teams to halftime with a 38-38 tie.
“We scored 38 points in the first half. I didn’t think our offense was very good, but it’s 38 points,” Neal said. “Then we gave up 38 but you have to give them credit — they did some good things at the end.”
The second half opened with Tim Williams getting a layup and a shot at the free throw line, putting his team up by three points. He scored the first five for New Mexico in the half.
Wyoming responded with a 3-pointer by Alan Herndon to tie the game at 43-43, but a dunk by senior center Obji Aget put the Lobos back on top with just over 17 minutes to play.
New Mexico didn’t give up the lead again, although the team was never able put comfortable distance from the opposition on the scoreboard. The Cowboys were one point away on several occasions.
The Lobos shot 44.8 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc, but they were just 60 percent from the foul line, an area Neal said was a bit of a red flag.
“We made some foul shots, we missed some foul shots. We are not a 60 percent foul-shooting team,” the head coach said. “We’ve been 75 all year. But I think the guys feed off of me. I have to do a better job being more positive and relaxed when we are home.”
But overall, the coach seemed happy with the performance.
“I thought this group did a good job at the end, breaking the pressure, getting the ball to the right people and making free throws,” he said.
The Cowboys had four players in double figures and were good from beyond the arc, making 11 three-pointers.
However, the Lobos were able to take advantage of 13 turnovers, converting them into 13 points.
The Lobos will be back at WisePies Arena on Tuesday to take on the Utah State Aggies at 9 p.m.
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men’s soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports @dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
