Lose and stay in last place, or win and try to reverse early misfortune.
That was the UNM men’s basketball team’s proposition on Wednesday at The Pit. The Lobos made the right turn in a 71-46 defeat over TCU, which sat at the same mid-conference crossroad.
“It’s a weight lifted off our shoulder, and it feels good to win,” guard Phillip McDonald said.
A combined 1-7 in the early conference season, both teams entered Wednesday’s tilt as the Mountain West Conference bottom inhabitants.
As the collegiate basketball nation focused its attention on Provo, Utah, for the league’s first-ever, top-10 matchup, the Lobos and the Horned Frogs locked horns to stay out of last place.
Without leading scorer Ronnie Moss, who unexpectedly did not make the trip, the Horned Frogs were painted into a corner.
UNM, 14-7 overall and 2-4 in MWC, took advantage and performed better than a last-place team. Individual performances from McDonald, Drew Gordon and Dairese Gary took the team out of the dungeon.
McDonald hit his shots, on the way to 20 points. Gary distributed the ball, notching five assists, and Gordon played with gusto en route to another double-double performance.
Gordon blocked two shots, and when TCU tried to box him in the paint, he out-leaped them and snagged 11 rebounds. When his shots were contested, Gordon broke open and hit jumpers on the way to a 6-of-9 shooting effort. He finished with 12 points, all inside the paint.
Gordon said he wanted to make a statement that his team did not belong in last place.
“We should not expect to be at the bottom, in my opinion,” Gordon said. “Our reputation kind of says everything that we don’t belong there. We have a great coach and great players on the team.”
Throughout the season, Alford criticized his team’s inconsistency as a reason for its last-place standing. He said the Lobos lose focus and allow opponents to go on small, two-to-four minute runs. But Wednesday, the Lobos played consistently, Alford said.
“There’s been stress on them all year,” he said. “It’s an inexperienced group trying to learn the pressures that were here before they came out. The locker room at halftime was at least a little bit focused.”
McDonald was instrumental in his team’s consistent play. He shot 6-of-9 from behind the 3-point line, hit all his free throws and grabbed six rebounds in 27 minutes.
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“Every shot I took I felt it was going in tonight,” he said. “It was a confidence-booster, and I really needed that. It’s very important. It helps the team out.”
