by Brandon Call
Daily Lobo
LAS CRUCES - Rebounding and ball handling were the two glaring problems for the UNM men's basketball team Tuesday in its 71-62 loss to in-state rival NMSU at the Pan American Center..
The Lobos were outrebounded by the Aggies 44-28 and committed 18 turnovers in the nine-point loss.
"You can't put up those kinds of numbers and expect to win," head coach Steve Alford said. "I thought we played hard, but that's an awful lot to try and overcome."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Coming into the season, Alford knew the Lobos lacked height and experience in the post.
"I knew it was an Achilles' heel for us," Alford said. "And it definitely flared up tonight."
When post player Daniel Faris got into foul trouble early on, UNM was hurt for size.
"We were forced to play a lot of zone defense," Alford said. "I thought the zone was effective defensively, but we were murdered on rebounding out of it."
The lack of height also meant NMSU's big man - 6-foot-11-inch center Hatila Passos - could roam free in the paint. Passos powered his way to 12 points and six rebounds.
NMSU's Wendell McKines also dominated the boards, posting 15 rebounds.
But it wasn't just the lack of size in the paint that hurt UNM, Alford said.
"J.R. (Giddens) and Darren (Prentice) had off nights," he said. "They are our senior leaders, so hopefully they can bounce back, because we'll need them if we want to win."
Junior guard Chad Toppert led UNM's offense. Toppert went 7-for-10 from the field and 6-for-7 from behind the arc for a game-high 20 points.
Senior guard Jamaal Smith chipped in 17 points, going 6-of-8 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the 3-point line.
The rest of the team was 8-for-37 on the night and 0-for-11 from 3-point land.
"Shots just weren't falling for us tonight," Smith said. "We know that we have a lot of guys that can shoot the ball. We just didn't play to our potential. When the balls aren't dropping, we need to work on stepping up in other areas, such as our defense."
UNM also couldn't keep up with NMSU's scoring runs.
The Aggies jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first half and opened the second half on an 8-2 run. A 6-0 run midway through the second half and another 8-2 run with seven minutes remaining increased the NMSU lead to double-digits and put the game out of reach for the Lobos.
"They were able to get the big home crowd involved in the game," Toppert said. "We couldn't stop their scoring runs, and we weren't getting the stops when we needed them. We also missed some key layups that put the momentum in their favor."
But the Lobos can benefit from the loss, Alford said.
"I think we threw it all out there against them," he said. "I was happy with our effort. I think we played hard. We were also getting a good number of assists. We're sharing the ball and playing unselfish basketball."
UNM falls to 7-2 on the season, dropping two straight on the road.
The Lobos also gave up 1.5 points in the Rio Grande Rivalry to tie the series at 4.5.
Toppert said he's eager to play the Aggies in The Pit on Dec. 19.
"We need to go back to the tapes and fix what we're doing wrong," he said. "We didn't play to our abilities, and that's frustrating - especially when it's against our rivals."
Men's basketball vs. San Diego
Saturday, 1 p.m.
The Pit
