Diving Right In

The UNM men’s basketball team might be young, but it’s not defenseless.
Propelled by their stingy defense, the Lobos beat Detroit Mercy 63-54, and held the Titans to 30 percent shooting from the field before a raucous crowd of 15,145 on Saturday at The Pit.
“Anytime you can shoot 39 percent and turn the ball over 18 times and win the way we won, I’m going to be pretty pleased,” head coach Steve Alford said.
Despite poor first-half shooting, the Lobos never trailed and controlled the game. UNM forced 22 Titans turnovers.
“Openers are always tough,” Alford said. “You always have a lot of questions with openers, and I thought our guys did good.”
From the beginning, it was evident that the young players were going to make an impression. Freshmen Alex Kirk and Kendall Williams were in the starting lineup. Kirk was impressive in his first collegiate game. He scored 10 points and nabbed 10 rebounds. Kirk scored the Lobos’ first points of the season off a mid-range jump shot. He offset Detroit’s height advantage in the middle, and UNM outscored Detroit 30-26 in the paint.
“It felt good, just to get one more step, more experience,” Kirk said. “It’s a pretty big game. We just got to bring it every time, bring the intensity to every game.”
Williams started slower, but displayed strong ball-handling skills and a knack for finding teammates in transition.
With guard Phillip McDonald in street clothes, the Lobos depended on a three-guard rotation to fill his role.
Guards Tony Snell, Jamal Fenton and Williams filled the void that McDonald’s injured arm left. Fenton led the trio with nine points, four assists and two steals. Combined, the three scored 20 points.
“The guys followed the game plan,” Alford said. “I think we have eight guys in the locker room that had never played our game plan, and I think they executed it well.”
The Lobos shot 35 percent from the field in the first half, but still had a double-digit lead at intermission.
UNM shot 47 percent in the second half. Curtis Dennis led the Lobos with 12 points in 23 minutes of play. Emmanuel Negedu provided a spark for the Lobos off the bench, finishing with six points, eight rebounds and one block.
With his nine points, senior Dairese Gary became the 28th Lobo to score 1,000 career points.
His usual physical play was evident, and he drove the lane with tenacity. Gary said he looks to provide energy whenever he is on the court.
“That’s how coach wants me to play,” Gary said. “I just put my body out there, taking charges and diving at the ball. It really gets the team going.”