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Alex Kirk hasn’t played a basketball game in 594 days.
He missed the 2011-12 season after surgery for a herniated disc in his back. This season, he tweaked his ankle during an intrasquad scrimmage and did not play UNM’s first exhibition game as a precautionary measure.
But Monday night, Kirk returned with a bang.
The 7-foot sophomore center played 21 minutes in his first game back, leading the Lobos to a 92-70 exhibition win over New Mexico Highlands. Kirk recorded a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds.
“Definitely the first few minutes I was really nervous,” Kirk said. “I had flashbacks to that Detroit game my freshman year where I was running up and down the court not really sure where I was going. Once I got into the flow, I felt really good.”
Kirk and junior forward Cameron Bairstow split time on the court throughout the contest. Bairstow played 19 minutes, scoring 14 points and pulling down seven rebounds.
The two played at the same time for about three minutes, not enough time for head coach Steve Alford to evaluate their performances together. But he praised both big men for their efforts.
“We had really good production out of him and Cam,” Alford said, referring to Kirk. “Cam didn’t finish this game like he did the last game. To get 14 and seven and 16 and eight out of that center spot, obviously we’ve got to continue to go in there. Those guys did well.”
Kirk reached double figures in the first 20 minutes. He had a two-minute stretch where he scored eight of UNM’s nine points late in the first half. He finished the game shooting 4-of-10 from the field, and he was 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
As with the first exhibition win over Victory University, several Lobos scored points. Ten of the 12 UNM players who saw action contributed to the scoring column, including six in double figures.
Junior guard Kendall Williams netted 12 points. Junior guard Tony Snell and junior guard Chad Adams each added 11, and sophomore guard Hugh Greenwood had 10.
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UNM out-rebounded 55-36, with 11 different Lobos contributing on the boards.
“That has been an emphasis for us since day one,” Greenwood said.
“We need to rebound and I think everyone is buying in. I think that Davidson is going to be a huge challenge. If we keep working hard and rebounding, I think we can win the game.”
In its second of two exhibition games before Monday’s season opener against the Wildcats, UNM led by as many as 28 points and never trailed. The Lobos held Highlands scoreless over the final 3 minutes, 53 seconds.
It was sloppy from time to time, mostly in the second half. In all, Highlands committed 70 fouls on UNM. The Lobos converted 35 of its 48 shots from the free-throw line, 72.9 percent, but made just over half their foul shots in the second half, 12 of 22, 54.5 percent.
“There were a lot of hard fouls. There’s no question about that,” Alford said. “We’ll watch the tape and evaluate it more. I like how our guys responded. We kept our cool.”
From the field, UNM made 27-of-66 shots for 40.9 percent.
Highlands shot 27-of-76, 35.5 percent, including 12-of-37 from 3-point range.
