It was a weekend of threes for the UNM men’s basketball team.
Three games, three wins — over Nicholls State, Louisiana Tech and then Miami of Ohio on Sunday — three players on the All-Tournament team.
Throughout the UNM-hosted Travelers Tournament, the Lobos put up three 80-point games, winning by double digits all weekend.
In Sunday night’s tournament wrap up, the Lobos blew out Miami of Ohio University 85-60 to finish off a perfect 3-0 weekend.
“To have such lopsided wins (over the weekend) speaks volumes for our guys,” said head coach Steve Alford. “We came in after Las Cruces and said it was 120 minutes this weekend — no practice. Let’s just bust our tales and have a lot of fun.”
Junior college transfer Darington Hobson was voted MVP of the tournament. Roman Martinez and Phillip McDonald were selected to the All-Tournament team.
The Lobos came out in the first half utilizing a zone defense. Both teams worked out of their motion, burning a decent amount of the shot clock before deciding on a shot.
Martinez, who had 15 points in Sunday’s game, said the team was just keying on the weaknesses of their opponent.
“We do a scouting report before games, and we were just trying to shut down what they were trying to do,” he said. “We try to go out there and play hard defense.
Throughout three games, you would think we would kind of die down, but we held tough.”
The Lobos were marked and precise in the first 10 minutes of the game. And while the shots came slow, the points came fast.
Four minutes into the game, the Lobos went on a 14-3 run over the next five minutes, pushing UNM’s lead to 25-10.
The Lobos couldn’t miss. They went 9-of-12 from the field, shooting 75 percent 10 minutes in.
UNM ended up shooting 53.6 percent from the field to end the half. But as UNM’s shooting faded, the Redhawks’ shooting dipped even lower.
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By the end of the half, Miami was shooting just 35 percent and an even poorer from the 3-point line. The Lobos led 45-21 at the half.
Miami’s Nick Winbush, who scored a game-high 25 points, started off the second half with a commanding dunk.
Lobo forward A.J. Hardeman, quick to retaliate, broke free for a dunk of his own on the next play, silencing the Miami players and energizing Lobo fans.
Miami went on a 9-4 run to begin the second half. But they were only knocking chips off the huge lead the Lobos amassed in the first half. Soon UNM coasted to a 20-plus point lead for the rest of the game.
All 11 Lobo players hit the floor and scored, with four of them — Hardeman, Hobson, Martinez and Chad Adams — scoring in double digits.
“As long as we are winning everyone is happy,” said Adams, who scored 13 points for the Lobos. “It doesn’t really matter. Scoring a lot is good but a balanced effort is even better.”
Friday’s scoring summary mirrored Sunday’s, with four Lobos hitting double digits. And sandwiched between them was Hobson’s breakout performance on Saturday.
Hobson teed off against Louisiana Tech on Saturday, putting up a career-high 30 points and 10 rebounds in an 81-52 win. He shot 50 percent from field goal range and 3-of-4 from the 3-point line.
With two minutes left in the first half, Hobson went on a 6-0 run by himself. He also forced a turnover on a charge.
The excitable Hobson fired up the crowd and had to be warned and restrained by officials, coaches and teammates.
“You’ll see me talking to him throughout the season,” Alford said. “He has got a little J.R. (Giddens) Beetle Juice to him. That is just the way he is. I just got to keep talking to him.”
