Three men’s basketball players play their last game in The Pit this Saturday.
UNM (23-6, 9-4) takes on Boise State in its final regular season game as senior forwards Drew Gordon and A.J. Hardeman, and senior guard Phillip McDonald, play their final home game.
The Lobos are tied for first place in the MWC with San Diego State, but hold the tiebreaker over the Aztecs.
With a win, the Lobos will wrap up first place in the MWC, but Gordon said it’s going to be weird knowing it’s his final game in The Pit.
“It is definitely bittersweet,” he said. “This place has treated me with the utmost respect and I had good times and bad times in here. It is going to be rough saying goodbye, but I am happy to look forward to the future.”
Boise State (13-15) comes into the game with only three conference wins and at the bottom of the MWC table. If UNM wins, it will lock down the No. 1 seed in the MWC tournament and will play Boise State in the first round of the tournament next week.
Last month, UNM beat Boise State on the road 65-49, with sophomore guard Kendall Williams scoring 18 points.
Head coach Steve Alford said Boise State is returning some crucial players back from injury, so the Broncos’ first game against UNM doesn’t necessarily reflect how good the team will be.
“They have played very well and have gotten (back) some key guys who are playing and had been hurt, so they are a little more dangerous than when we played them the first game.” he said.
Gordon comes into the game averaging a double-double with 12.6 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game.
Alford said it doesn’t matter who they are playing, the Lobos are only one game away from taking another MWC regular season title.
“We are going down to the last game of the regular season and we are 40 minutes away,” Alford said. “We are 40 minutes from winning our third title in four years. Regardless of who it is coming in here, we are excited to play that game.”
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The Broncos only have one player who has averaged double figures in scoring this year, Anthony Drmic, who averages 11.9 points per game.
The Broncos’ Dmric and UNM freshman guard Hugh Greenwood and sophomore forward Cameron Bairstow all attended the Australian Institute of Sport together. They face each other for the second time this season.
Greenwood, coming off a career-high 22 points in his last game, said he is excited to take on one of his friends in The Pit.
“Yeah, I can’t wait, I’ve told them all about it (playing in The Pit),” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing them and seeing them play in The Pit. Especially on senior night, too. It’s going to be a great atmosphere and hopefully they’ll be ready for it.”
Men’s Basketball vs Boise State
Saturday, 2 p.m.
The Pit
