The Lobos are looking to lift up their spirits on the road as they take on the Air Force Falcons for the first and only time this season in a Wednesday night matchup.
New Mexico leads the all-time series 57-22 against the Falcons. When the two teams met last year, the Lobos took an 84-55 victory.
But that was in Lobo territory, and Colorado Springs won’t be a welcoming environment.
The cherry and silver team hasn’t beaten the Falcons on the road since January 2012 — something UNM head coach Craig Neal is determined to change.
“They’re really hard to play against,” Neal said. “For some reason we’ve always played really well against them at home. We haven’t played really well against them up there.”
The Lobos (14-10, 7-5 MW) are coming off a 78-68 loss to San Jose State, the first ever loss to the Spartans by UNM.
New Mexico had a tough time without key two starters, Tim Williams and Dane Kuiper. Williams was out with a foot injury, while Kuiper was recovering from a broken nose and concussion.
Kuiper ordered a mask, which he may or may not choose to wear, and might be available to play against the Falcons. However, during Monday’s press conference, Neal said he doesn’t anticipate putting Kuiper back in the starting line up, at least not right away.
“Concussions are different,” the head coach said. “In the sense that they make you lethargic, you seem tired, bright lights bother you, you don’t know if it’s going to be back.”
With Williams still out and Kuiper not at 100 percent, Wednesday night’s match won’t be easy. But Neal said he is not going to use injuries as an excuse, as he doesn’t want to anything take away from the players who are healthy.
Elijah Brown, the team’s leading scorer, usually gets offensive help from Williams. But in Saturday’s match, it was junior guard/forward Sam Logwood who stepped up and helped the team with 19 points, good for second-most on the squad.
The Lobos need to see more of that, as they have been looking for a consistent scorer all season besides Brown, who has averaged 19 points per game, and Williams, with 18.
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Air Force has a balanced scoring attack that features four players who average double figures: Frank Toohey, Hayden Graham, Jacob Van and Zach Kocur.
As a whole, the team averages 76.3 points per game, but it hasn’t been enough. The Falcons are coming from back-to-back losses and currently hold a 10-13 overall record, 3-7 in the Mountain West conference.
That record might not look dangerous, but Neal is not taking anything for granted. He described Air Force as a patient team that plays hard and that is mentally tough.
The head coach said he would try to take advantage of Air Force’s zone defense, as well as trying to get the Lobos to play at a faster pace.
He also said this college basketball season has been a particularly “strange” one and his team has to be prepared for anything.
“I think more so now, anybody can beat anybody on any given day,” Neal said. “That’s the way I view it. Not only in my conference but throughout a lot of conferences.”
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.
