Yeah, they really did score one more point in the first half than the average number of fingers a person has - I say average because you'd be surprised at the finger-loss statistics in the United States.
Yeah, they were on pace to equal their lowest point total this season - for a half.
Yeah, they really did make four field goals and were outscored by a single player on the other team, Randy Foye, 12-11.
And yeah, they did screw everyone's brackets up bad. Real bad.
But while the Lobos' first half against the Villanova Wildcats on Friday was possibly one of the worst showings in CBS history - and that's saying something if you watched "Spring Break Shark Attack" - there were still some bright spots. They were precious few, but there were some.
That is, of course, other than poor senior Troy DeVries' debacle. The best three-point shooter in UNM history percentagewise went 0-for-7 from the three-point line in his final game for the Lobos. Ouch for DeVries. Ouch for the brackets.
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But let's get back to the positive.
First, in the second half, the Lobos - yes, the same team - had an about face. They shot the ball better. They played defense. They gave us - and our brackets - hope.
UNM pulled within five with 29 seconds left, and then freshman Tony Danridge stole the ball. Hope was there. Well, it was there for about half a second, because he promptly turned it right back over.
Brackets were ripped in two. Beverages were hurled at televisions. Collective "insert plural curse word here" were shouted at inanimate objects or people you didn't know.
Bracket hopes and Lobo hopes were swept out the door. And though my bracket lies in a crumpled, mangled and burned - don't ask - heap on my living room floor, there is still hope for next year's brackets.
The Lobos' second half proved they were worthy of the spotlight, worthy of playing a school without a hyphen in its name and competing.
Most notable was junior Mark Walters playing - more like running - the point. Walters dropped 14 points - all in the second half - but, more importantly, he played without fear. Walters ran through defenders as if he were back in his football days at Highland High School. He created opportunities galore for open threes. That doesn't mean the Lobos hit them. They did, after all, shoot 4-for-25 from behind the arc in the game.
But Walters proved he's capable of playing in the glow that surrounds an NCAA tournament game, and he could be the fireman for next year's NCAA brackets, turning them into beautifully highlighted pieces of art instead of, well, ash.
Injured ex-starting point guard Kris Collins will be back from a broken foot next year, and if David Chiotti's learning curve from his sophomore to junior season is any indication, UNM will have the most dominant post presence in the Mountain West Conference.
Danridge has the potential to be something special, late-game turnovers aside.
But the guy who will hold it all together is Walters. Hopefully he can use some of that glue to hold next year's brackets together as well.
