The pieces looked like they were all going to fall into place for the UNM men's basketball team this year.
At the beginning of the season, head coach Ritchie McKay hyped the Lobos as a team that was easily one of the top three in the Mountain West Conference.
Senior Danny Granger was picked as the preseason MWC player of the year.
Kris Collins was supposed to be the able-bodied replacement for departed point guard Javin Tindall.
Those pieces led the Lobos to a 14-2 record going into the second game of conference play.
But that's when things started to fall apart.
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Granger went down with a knee injury and missed the next three conference games - all losses.
Collins broke his foot in practice and is likely out for the season. And the Lobos are looking up instead of down in the MWC standings.
With six games before the conference tournament, UNM is 17-6 but 4-4 in the conference.
That MWC record has them in fourth place, one-and-a-half games behind third-place Wyoming.
Junior Mark Walters grimaced when asked about the loss at Wyoming.
"It's been kind of a disappointment," Walters said. "There's times where we go out there and we'll play good for a half and then bad for a half, like against Wyoming. But we're better than that. We have the talent and the discipline."
UNM was up 71-68 with 2:43 left in the Wyoming game, but the team failed to score another point, eventually losing 81-71.
The game mirrored the up-and-down season the Lobos have had.
They play like the team McKay talked about at the beginning of the season one minute, and then turn around and play like the team that lost to 8-16 Brigham Young the next.
The inconsistent play has been frustrating and even confusing, Walters said.
"It just seems like every time we go on a streak, something happens," he said. "We had just won three in a row before Wyoming. I just don't know."
The Lobos' hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament have long since passed.
Only 21-3 Utah will likely receive one of those - that is if the Utes win the MWC tournament. If their 8-0 conference record is any indication, they probably will.
McKay's once lofty hopes for at least a top-three finish now lie closer to the gutter.
Catching the Utes is practically impossible, while jumping into second place ahead of Wyoming (6-3) and second-place Air Force (6-2) will be a daunting task if the Lobos drop tonight's game to the Falcons.
But Walters said there's still time to piece this season back together.
Granger said his knee doesn't bother him as much anymore, and the Lobos have four of their last six games at The Pit.
"We got six games left, and I definitely think we can win all six of them," he said. "I'm confident where we're going."
