The men’s basketball team is likely guaranteed to go dancing in the NCAA tournament next week, but there’s still more work to do.
The Lobos head to Las Vegas, Nev. today to take on Air Force in the first round of the MWC tournament.
“We’d like to be there a while,” head coach Steve Alford said. “We feel like we’re playing very good basketball and just coming off a championship, so the guys are feeling good about themselves. We’ve got a lot of confidence.”
Saturday’s win against Boise State clinched UNM’s third regular-season title in four years and the No. 2 seed in the tournament, but the Lobos have not won the tournament in the five years Alford has been head coach.
“Other than the time we got beat by Wyoming in the quarterfinals (in 2009), that’s really the only time I think we haven’t played well,” Alford said.
The Lobos have only reached as far as the semifinals under Alford.
UNM’s last conference tournament title came in 2005, as the No. 2 seed, when it beat Utah 60-56 in the championship game.
The four times the Lobos have been the No. 2 seed heading into the tournament they’ve reached the conference championship each time, winning two of them.
Because the tournament spans just three days and the teams that make the championship will have to play each of those days, Alford said the key to winning will be the team with the hot hands and depth — two things the Lobos have had all season.
“We’ve played 10 guys all year, so going to our bench is not something that we dread, it’s something that we trust and a lot of time this year our bench has done just as well, if not better than our starters,” Alford said. “Hopefully it makes a difference over a three-day period.”
A conference tournament title could also put the Lobos back in the national spotlight. After beating then-No. 11 UNLV at The Pit several weeks ago on national television, the Lobos catapulted into the top 25. One week later, after losses to Colorado State and TCU, UNM has stayed out despite finishing with the same record (24-6, 10-4 MWC) as No. 21 San Diego State and a better record than No. 20 UNLV (25-7, 9-5 MWC).
Alford said he doesn’t understand how San Diego State lost three straight conference games and managed to stay in the top 25, but the Lobos, after two straight defeats, were kicked out and can’t get back in.
“This team hasn’t been respected all year long,” Alford said. “It’s always something.”
The Lobos have had a chip on their shoulder since the beginning of the season after the 1-2 slow start. They have a chance to quiet the critics and raise some eyebrows starting tonight against Air Force.
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“We don’t care too much about rankings, but we’re at least still searching for some respect,” sophomore guard Kendall Williams said.
