The triangle offense was prevalent in The Pit on Sunday, with both UNM and Colorado University running the system as its main offensive set. But there was a major difference - one team ran it well, while the other team looked confused in the new system.
Colorado has been running the triangle offense for years, but the Lobos just began learning the system in two months.
The inexperience showed in the Lobos' 78-63 loss, with the Buffaloes creating shots and going aggressively to the basket, while the Lobos looked out of sync.
"Their timing was better, their cuts were better," assistant coach Ed Wyant said. "They hit the open player better. I just think they were more aggressive in the triangle type offense."
The offense is predicated on guards cutting to the basket and a lot of passing from the post players.
The Lobos changed their offense in the preseason and they had an impressive debut Friday against the University of the Pacific by shooting 61 percent and creating numerous easy baskets.
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However, the 12th-ranked Buffaloes (2-0) proved to be a tougher and more physical opponent.
The Lobos were pushed out of their cutting lanes and were forced to play from the outside. UNM had trouble finding the open player and double and triple teams hounded junior center Jordan Adams for much of the game.
"Every single time there was two or three people around Jordan, we just need to get used to that," Wyant said. "We just didn't execute. The triangle offense has several options of the thing, but we never ran the thing fully. We kind of look down at the shot clock and started creating on our own and that's not our offense. Our offense is to cut, execute what the triangle offense is."
Adams finished with 14 points, but made only five-of 16 attempts.
With the Lobos main offensive scoring and passing threat from the post ineffective, Colorado shut down the Lobos for a combined 11:09 in the second half. UNM had trouble getting anything going towards the basket, settling on perimeter jump shots and forcing shots.
The Lobos shot only 33.3 percent for the game, including a dismal 29.4 percent in the second half.
The only Lobo to shoot above 50 percent was sophomore forward Lauren McLeod, who went 2-for-2.
Senior Molly McKinnon shot 4-for-15 and sophomore post Melissa Forest also struggled shooting with a two-for-seven performance.
"We're going to look at film and we're going to learn a lot," Lobo freshman Mandi Moore said. "That's where we will hopefully learn a little bit and get our offense running like that. We need to make harder cuts and execute the offense a little better."
The Buffaloes did not fair much better from the field, shooting 39 percent.
However, the difference was Colorado went to the basket more aggressively, evidence by its 31 free throw attempts to the Lobos 16 attempts.
"Colorado has been running the triangle for years and you could tell at this point," Wyant said. "They executed a bit better than us. It is going to take a bit of time for us to have that same continuity that Colorado does. But it will come with time. The triangle is not something you run effectively in a few months and that's how long we have been running it."
