The men’s basketball team faces its toughest test of the season so far when it takes on No. 16 San Diego State tonight at The Pit.
Both teams come into the game with identical 15-2 records, but the Lobos are riding a 13-game winning streak.
“This is going to be a big game,” junior guard Jamal Fenton said. “We have to come mentally prepared, and we would love to be ranked in the top 25.”
Fenton has started the last two games at guard because the team’s regular starter, freshman guard Hugh Greenwood, has an ankle injury.
Head coach Steve Alford said he expects Greenwood to return for the game against SDSU
“He (Greenwood) has had a really good weekend of rehab,” Alford said. “He hasn’t done anything such as far as activity in practice. Now I would say he is questionable but hopeful to play Wednesday.”
The Lobos have yet to play a ranked opponent this season, but can bring in the experience of Alford, who is 8-3 against ranked opponents in his UNM coaching career.
Both teams come into the game 1-0 in MWC play.
SDSU had a two-point win over No. 14 University of Las Vegas last Saturday that saw it jump up to No. 16 in this week’s national polls, while UNM beat Wyoming on the road by 10.
The Lobos lost to SDSU at home last year 87-77, but the Aztecs no longer have D.J. Gay and Kawhi Leonard, who, combined, scored 49 points in that game.
Alford said that even though the team is playing its first ranked opponent of the season this year, team members are treating it like any other game.
“We take it one game at a time,” he said. “We have been able to be really consistent with winning and giving ourselves a chance to win, whether it’s home or the road.”
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Sophomore guard Tony Snell is one of the major offensive focal points for the Lobos this season. Snell leads the team, averaging 13.4 points per game.
Snell said the team is feeling slighted by the national polls because 15 teams in the top 25 have more losses than the Lobos.
“We feel like we play hard, even though we have those two early losses we stepped our game up and we feel like we haven’t got any respect,” he said. “But this is a big week for us.”
