It's easy to describe the UNM men's basketball team's season in one word: uncertainty.
Take six freshmen, three seniors, sophomore point guard Dairese Gary and multidimensional junior Roman Martinez, and then subtract J.R. Giddens, Jamaal Smith and Darren Prentice.
Yes, UNM has a talented roster. But this year will be about how quick the Lobos' younger players can mature.
In other words, UNM will search for an identity to embrace for the remainder of the year, when the Lobos open their 106th season of men's basketball against Southeast Missouri State.
Tip-off is at 7:05 p.m. today, and a packed Pit will root against the Redhawks.
Head coach Steve Alford said the electric atmosphere is something the freshmen will need to get accustomed to.
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"No more openers," he said. "There is an urgency that the younger guys need to feel."
The 2008-09 freshman class is the largest for UNM in 24 years. UNM has six true freshmen - and redshirt freshman Kem Nweke - but five scholarship newcomers in Will Brown, Curtis Dennis, Nate Garth, A.J. Hardeman and Phillip McDonald.
All five will make their regular-season debut and look to help replace UNM's Big Three from the 2007-08 season.
"Jamaal, Darren and J.R. - you know, what they did last year was really something special," Alford said. "There are 11 or 12 guys now in the current rotation that are going to get playing time. I am really excited to see the young talent excel down the road."
McDonald, the Mountain West Conference Preseason Freshman of the Year, started at guard in UNM's lone exhibition game against Western New Mexico and scored 11 points.
McDonald will likely start against the Redhawks.
The young talent will have to develop a bond under veteran leadership. UNM returns four key contributors from last year's school-record tying, 24-win team.
The Lobos will not only look to capture their home opener but also to claim their fifth straight home-opening win for the men's team and win number 599 at The Pit.
After a flawless performance against WNMU, Martinez hopes to keep a hot hand.
Against the Mustangs, Martinez went 8-for-8 from the field and led the team with 18 points.
Gary said he is ready to get to "body-banging" in UNM's busy month of November.
"It is going to be extremely difficult," he said. "The whole team has to stay focused. It is going to be tough on the freshmen with back-to-back games coming up."
The Lobos play seven games in a 17-day span.
On paper, SEMO seems underqualified to face UNM. The Redhawks were 12-19 last season but won their two exhibition games in 2008.
Kenard Moore scored a game-high 23, while JaJuan Maxwell rang up his first double-double of the season in an 81-73 win over Missouri Baptist on Nov. 1.
In a 33-point slaughter of MacMurray on Nov. 8, six Redhawks posted double-doubles in a 109-76 victory. Maxwell led the team with 15 rebounds - seven offensive boards - and 16 points.
The Redhawks will suit up only four returning players from last year's team. SEMO will also be without junior Calvin Williams, who was suspended Oct. 25 and will miss the Redhawks' first two games of the season, including tonight's rumble in The Pit.
Men's Basketball vs. Southeast Missouri State
Friday, 7 p.m.
The Pit
