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New Mexico center J.J. N'Ganga, 0, goes up for a block during the game against Central Arkansas on Dec. 17 at WisePies Arena. The Lobos defeated the Bears 76-55.

New Mexico center J.J. N'Ganga, 0, goes up for a block during the game against Central Arkansas on Dec. 17 at WisePies Arena. The Lobos defeated the Bears 76-55.

Delaney leads UNM to win over UCA

Deshawn Delaney’s first half stat line read like this: six points, six rebounds, two assists and two turnovers. He made sure to change that in the second half.

 

The senior guard finished with a game-high 22 points, tallied 13 rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals in the Lobos 76-55 rout against the Central Arkansas Bears Wednesday night at the Pit.

 

“It was my coach. He got on me really hard, challenged me and that’s what got me going,” Delaney said when asked about what head coach Craig Neal told him at halftime. “I found ways to get the job done; rebound, defend and get steals.”

 

Delaney has shown senior leadership Lobos as of late. In his last seven games, he has averaged 16.8 points per game to go along with 7.3 rebounds per game.

 

UNM struggled from the beginning against a winless UCA team. With a three-pointer that banked in for the Bears on their first shot attempt of the game, Neal knew they were in for a tough one.

 

“I knew we were in trouble when I had a bad hair day because my hair is in transition (from shaving it off) and my wife brought a suit that I wore when I was in Toronto and it didn’t fit me,” he said jokingly. “And then when they banked in their first three, I knew it was going to be one of those days where they made a few threes.”

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Neal said he is pleased with his team’s effort, because of how thin their bench is they have to be smart and stay out of foul trouble.

 

“That was one of those games where we don’t have a lot of room for error,” he said. “We can’t do certain things when we only have three guards.”

 

With freshman Sam Logwood’s shoulder sprain, Neal was referencing the fact that the Lobos only have three guards who are healthy: Hugh Greenwood, Xavier Adams and Tim Jacobs.

 

The Lobos offense seemed to have been working better in Wednesday’s game. They shot 47 percent (27-58) from the floor and 40 percent (6-15) from behind the three-point line. The only downside? Free throws were a struggle yet again.

 

UNM connected on only 16 of 31 attempts at the charity stripe. This 51.6 percent performance was the lowest percentage by the team this season.

 

Sharing the ball always opens up offenses that are struggling. The Lobos notched in 21 assists and only 9 turnovers in Wednesday’s game. This was their highest assist total so far this season.

 

UNM will travel down south to Las Cruces where they will play New Mexico State in the second game of the Rio Grande Rivalry on Saturday. The Lobos defeated the Aggies in their first meeting at WisePies Arena aka The Pit by a score of 62-47 earlier this season.

 

Kyle Tomasi is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @KyTo22.

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