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With four home games and another three at a neutral-site tournament, the UNM men’s basketball team has yet to play a true road game in 2012-13. That changes this weekend.
The No. 25 Lobos (7-0), fresh off a three-game home stand, travels to Terre Haute, Ind., when they take on the Indiana State Sycamores as part of the Mountain West — Missouri Valley Challenge. The Lobos’ only other road trip has been the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam two weeks ago.
“It is great to be ranked, everyone wants to be ranked,” junior guard Tony Snell said. “We try to stand up there, play hard and prove ourselves every game.”
The MWC-MVC Challenge features nine games as teams from both conferences square off. Last year, with the MWC short a team, the MWC and MVC tied with four wins apiece; in 2010 the MWC won with an 8-1 record.
The matchups for the 2012 Challenge include Missouri State at San Diego, Boise State at Creighton, Fresno State at Southern Illinois, Evansville at Colorado State, Drake at Nevada, Wichita State at Air Force, Wyoming at Illinois State and Northern Iowa at UNLV. The record so far this year is 2-1, with wins by SDSU and Boise State for the MWC, and a win by Southern Illinois for the MVC since the Challenge began Nov. 17.
UNM enters the Challenge coming off of three wins at The Pit, beating Idaho, Portland and Mercer. Averaging 72.3 points in seven games, the Lobos have shot .419 percent from the field and .788 percent from the foul line. They have scored no fewer than 66 points in any contest.
Snell leads the UNM offense with 13.7 points per game. Junior guard Kendall Williams has 12.9 points per game, while sophomore center Alex Kirk averages 11.7 points and a team-leading 8.9 rebounds per game.
Led by junior guard Jake Odum’s 13.2 points and junior forward R.J. Mahurin’s 10.8 points per game, Indiana State scored an average of 67.8 points though its first five games. The Sycamores (4-1) make .450 percent of their field goals. Since losing its season opener at UCLA, Indiana State defeated Winthrop, Truman State, Ball State and High Point.
“They’re off to a great start,” said UNM head coach Steve Alford, who was born in Franklin, Ind., and played collegiate basketball for Indiana University. “They’re going to have one of their biggest home crowds yet, so it’ll be a good game.”
UNM women play at Houston
The UNM women’s basketball team is also on the road today when it travels to Houston to play the Cougars. The Lobos (6-1) have split their last two games against Georgia and Weber State after starting the season with five straight wins.
As a team, UNM has scored an average 63.7 points per game in its seven outings. Senior guard Caroline Durbin leads the team with 12.7 points per game, followed by junior forward Sara Halasz with 11.1 and junior forward Deeva Vaughn with 10.9. From the field, the Lobos are .427 percent.
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Houston rides a three-game winning streak following four consecutive season-opening defeats. Last time out, the Cougars defeated Texas-San Antonio.
Cougar Senior guard Porsche Landry has 16.4 points and junior center Yasmeen Thompson averages 11.3 points per game. As a team, Houston averages 68.1 points a game with a .385 shooting percentage.
