There’s no place like home — especially after the week the Lobos just went through.
The men’s basketball team took a road trip last week, one day after jumping into the top 25 in every major college basketball poll.
Back-to-back losses to Colorado State and TCU dropped the Lobos back into a three-way tie for first place in the MWC with UNLV and San Diego State.
UNM also dropped out of all the top-25 polls.
“We got both teams’ best effort and we didn’t handle it very well,” head coach Steve Alford said. “We got ranked late in the year, and maybe that was part of last week; our guys were ranked for the first time, (there was) lot of emotion going into last week and obviously didn’t play well.”
The Lobos now get to finish the last two games of the regular season at home.
“We know we’ve got a difficult test ahead of us, but I’m glad we’re playing at home in front of our crowd and in our Pit,” Alford said.
UNM (22-6, 8-4 MWC), takes on Air Force (13-13, 3-9 MWC) tonight.
The Falcons struggled out of the gates in conference, losing seven of their first eight games. Days after an 18-point loss to Colorado State on Feb. 4, Falcons head coach Jeff Reynolds was fired.
Since Reynolds’ firing, Air Force is just 2-3, but did beat then-No. 13 San Diego State less than two weeks ago.
“We’re not sure what they’re going to be running now that they’ve got a new coach,” senior forward Drew Gordon said. “So it’s going to be like playing a new team.”
Air Force junior guard Michael Lyons has been the lone bright spot for the Falcons this season. He is second in the Mountain West in scoring with 15.3 points per game, just behind San Diego State’s Jamaal Franklin with 18.2 points per game.
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Lyons was key in his team’s upset win against the Aztecs by scoring a game-high 27 points and has kept his team in games since then.
“After doing a good job of taking care of CSU and TCU the first time, hitting the road they were two different teams with a lot of momentum,” sophomore guard Kendall Williams said. “Air Force has a lot of momentum.”
The Lobos hope to grab some momentum themselves after giving up a two-game lead in the conference with two games remaining.
Despite the struggles of late, Alford continues to keep a positive attitude.
“I keep saying it, we’re 22-6, we’re in first place in the league that’s ranked fifth in the country,” Alford said. “These guys have done an unbelievable job. I couldn’t be more proud of them individually or collectively as a team.”
Unlike last season, UNM controls its destiny to another conference title.
“We’re battling for our third title in four years,” Alford said. “And that’s an accomplishment that these kids have really worked for.”
Men’s Basketball vs. Airforce
The Pit
Friday, 6 p.m.
