The guards of the men’s basketball team defended the Lobos’ four game winning streak.
Four guards, freshman Hugh Greenwood and sophomores Kendall Williams, Tony Snell and Demetrius Walker, snagged double-digit points. They scored a combined 58 of the Lobos’ 76 total points.
Williams reached a career-high 19 points to help the Lobos pull off a 16-point victory over the Bears.
While the other guards busied themselves making shots, Williams drove through the lane and picked up fouls on his way to the basket. He added 10 points from the free-throw line.
“I thought our activity in the guard position was really good,”
head coach Steve Alford said. “Hugh made some shots, Tony made some shots. Kendall was very active and was very hard to guard.”
The Lobos got off to a 10-0 start, thanks to shooting from Snell and Greenwood. The first six points of the game came courtesy of two straight 3-pointers from Snell.
Snell and Greenwood ended the game with three 3-pointers each. Greenwood ended with 11 points and added his first blocked shot of the season.
Greenwood said he is starting to get more comfortable with his shooting skills.
“I’ve been more aggressive these last few games,” he said. “Shooting is a strength of mine.”
Walker added two more 3-pointers for the Lobos and scored 16 points coming off the bench.
“I thought D-Walk (Walker) came in and really provided a spark for us,” Alford said. “He did a lot of good things for us coming off the bench.”
Williams said the guards are starting to build chemistry together.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“I like playing with Hugh; I like playing with Jamal (Fenton),” Williams said. “Hugh is starting to come into his own and it makes for a good environment.”
Greenwood, Snell, Walker and Williams also combined for 19 rebounds. Greenwood and Williams had six each.
The scoring from the guards made up for the lack of production from the post, as senior forwards A.J. Hardeman and Drew Gordon and sophomore forward Cameron Bairstow combined for 13 points.
The Lobos were also without senior guard Phillip McDonald for most of the game. McDonald injured his ankle after only four minutes.
Even though four guards reached double-digit points, Alford said he couldn’t care less how many players pull off that feat.
“It doesn’t matter if we have four or zero,” Alford said. “If we win, I’m always going to be pretty happy.”
