by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
DENVER --- The Lobos had the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in their sights, pulled the trigger, and shot themselves in the foot.
Missed free throws, untimely fouls and other mistakes in the final minutes led to the UNM men's basketball team's collapse against the Runnin' Rebels.
While holding a seemingly comfortable 13-point lead with 13:27 remaining, the wheels fell off for UNM. The Lobos turned the ball over 17 times in the game and converted just 5-of-12 from the free-throw line. UNLV scored 12 points off turnovers, compared to three for UNM.
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UNLV's Ricky Morgan, who finished with a game-high 16 points, said the Lobos' missed opportunities gave the Runnin' Rebels a reason to believe they could pull off the comeback.
"Those missed free throws gave us a little more inspiration to go down and make plays on them," Morgan said.
The most disastrous stretch for UNM came in the final 36 seconds of the game. UNLV's Jo'Van Adams turned the ball over to UNM with a one-second difference between the game clock and the shot clock. Rather than try and run the clock down to the final seconds or trying to force the Runnin' Rebels to draw a foul, UNM went on the attack.
Senior guard Kris Collins drove to the hoop and dished the ball to Tony Danridge. With 25 seconds left in the game and 24 on the shot clock, Danridge posted up UNLV's Dustin Villepigue and drew a foul.
Danridge, who finished with 11 points, watched his first shot bounce out of the rim. UNLV called a timeout to try to ice Danridge, and apparently it worked. Danridge's second free-throw shot bounced out and UNLV's Wendell White grabbed the rebound. Morgan attacked the paint before being fouled by UNM's Jeff Hart. Morgan drilled both free-throw shots and gave UNLV a 65-64 lead.
Morgan said he has been preparing for moments like that all season.
"We work on free throws every day in practice," Morgan said. "Fortunately, I was able to get it over the front and knock them home."
After a timeout, the Lobos took the ball down the court and UNLV left Hart with a wide-open three-point shot. Though Hart was the spark in the Lobos' offense the entire game - he finished with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from behind the arc - he could not deliver the knockout blow. Hart's shot flew over the rim and momentarily into the hands of Danridge. Danridge fumbled the ball, David Chiotti scrambled for it, and the scramble ended with Collins firing up a near half-court shot that fell short as the buzzer sounded.
Morgan said he didn't know what to expect coming out of UNM's timeout, and he was relieved when Hart's shot did not connect.
"I was kind of surprised when Hart did take the shot, and fortunately, he missed it," Morgan said.
Though the closing moments ultimately ended UNM's run in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, head coach Ritchie McKay said he would not have changed the approach.
"Our team always wants to be the aggressor," McKay said. "We've talked all week about being the aggressor, so I don't mind that shot at all. You can't play with a sense of passivity and win at this level."
