Four stitches, one ejection, flying elbows and plenty of trash talking could not stop the UNM men's basketball team's big men from proving Saturday that they are more than a liability for the Lobos to overcome this season.
UNM's sleeping giants came to life, relishing the opportunity to dominate the paint and help lead the Lobos to an 87-55 win over Alcorn State University.
Sophomore Patrick Dennehy led the inside game with a career-high 17 rebounds, 10 points, one steal and four stitches.
"Obviously if you get 17 rebounds in 28 minutes as a sophomore against an athletic team, that's a pretty good accomplishment," head coach Fran Fraschilla said of Dennehy's performance.
Dennehy's double-double extended his strong start this season. He leads the team with 57 rebounds - 28 on the offensive end - and has racked up 11 steals, which is tops in conference play.
Fraschilla said he was pleased with Dennehy's effort and that he has improved because he is intelligent and easy to coach.
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"I tell him all the time that he's one of the best young big guys in the league," Fraschilla said. "He's got a knack for rebounding. I told him at the half that he's got 11 and we were trying to get 20 but he missed a few minutes up in the training room. Pat has unlimited ability and he has a chance to be a very, very good player."
The Lobos dominated the paint in the first half against the Braves, and Dennehy outrebounded the entire Alcorn State team 11 to seven.
Plenty of elbows were thrown during the game, but the most damaging one came early in second half when Alcorn State forward Marcus Flemming's elbow connected with Dennehy just above his right eye.
"I just caught a flying elbow," he said. "They were trying to set the tone for the game and trying to be physical inside. I had caught a couple of elbows earlier in the side and got a cramp from that. I just kept playing hard and I wasn't going to be intimidated by anyone and that's what they were trying to do. I just was going out there to rebound and try to do anything I could to help our team."
Dennehy said he was not intimidated by the blow or affected by the four stitches it took to fix the wound.
"I just knew the only reason they took me out of the game was because they couldn't stop me," he said.
Freshman post Chad Bell did not handle Alcorn State's pressure underneath the basket as well, giving Braves forward Lee Cook a forearm to the chest underneath the basket after Cook muscled in a layup over Bell. The referees charged Bell with one technical foul, one flagrant foul and ejected him from the game, garnering the loudest, angriest response from the crowd of the game.
Fraschilla said after the game that if the contest had been closer, Bell's ejection could have hurt the team. He added that the officials handled the contentious inside game well and did what they had to do to contain the players.
"Whether he's right or wrong, I just explained to him, he's got to keep his composure in that kind of a situation," Fraschilla said.
Freshman forward Jamaal Williams quietly contributed a strong game, scoring nine points, grabbing six boards, stealing the ball twice and dishing out one assist in 15 minutes of play.
The Lobos also received surprisingly strong performances from post Moustapha Diagne and forward Cody Payne. Diagne suffers from a chronic foot ailment that has hampered his ability to play for longer periods of time, while Payne had not seen action this season because he is recovering from a knee injury.
Diagne, who often grimaces running up the court, seemed to shake off pain in his feet to contribute six points - including one dunk - three blocks and three bounds in 14 minutes. Payne added four points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal in six minutes in his debut as a Lobo.
Dennehy said he is pleased to see the Lobo big men coming together and added that if they keep up the strong performances, teams will not be able to overlook them.
"Eventually, down the line in conference play, they'll have to double team me inside and open up a lot of shots for the guards, which will overall make us a better team," he said. "This year, as long as we keep playing hard, I don't really see the inside game as a weakness and that's something I set out to prove this year."
While the Lobos have rarely had trouble beating Alcorn State, Fraschilla and Dennehy pointed out the Braves' big men are their strength and that they are picked to win their conference.
"I think we did a really good job of defending them, which should definitely help us in the future," he said. "We just keep getting better and it just means we can't be ignored anymore."
