The Lobos dominated on Thursday night, winning their second game in three days for an eight game winning streak.
Sophomore guard Kendall Williams, who has started all but one game this season, did not play because of a poor academic fall semester but it didn’t matter as UNM (10-2) beat University of Missouri Kansas City (7-7) 87-62 for its eight straight win.
“It was a good game,” head coach Steve Alford said. “It was a tough bounce back game for us because of the low prep and I thought we did some good things.”
UNM started off the game slow but after the first five minutes slowly began to take control of the game with some impressive defense.
Alford said the different starting lineup may have been the reason they started so slow.
“I thought we were a little flat at the beginning of the game and the new lineup and that might have had something to do with that,” he said. “After the first five minutes we woke up and started playing to a level that we had to play at.”
UNM only committed three fouls in the first half, and had a 40-24 lead at the break. At one point senior guard Phillip McDonald came off the bench scored 11 straight points and finished with a
team high 18.
McDonald scored his 1,000 point in his Lobo career with a 3-pointer in the first half.
McDonald has missed a few games this season but he said he feels like he is getting back to 100 percent.
“Injuries have taken a real toll on my body this season,” he said. “I felt like the weight came off my shoulders and I felt very relived. I felt like I was back on my game.”
The second half was much of the same as the Lobos took as much as a 28 point lead and had four different players in double figure scoring.
With less than four minutes remaining senior forward Drew Gordon threw down a massive alley-oop dunk off a pass from senior guard Jamal Fenton that sent the 13,419 fans into a frenzy and sealed the victory for UNM.
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Along with McDonald, Fenton came off the bench, and had 16 points and was 7-8 shooting. Gordon added 18 points of his own but only had 6 rebounds, breaking a three game streak of double-doubles.
UNM shot 53.4 percent for the game compared to UMKC’s 40.3 percent.
After starting off the season 2-2, the Lobos have now won eight straight and Alford said it’s a testament to the team and how hard they have been working.
“To win eight in a row, with a lot of those games being away from home means a lot to this basketball team,” he said.
