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A tall order awaits the New Mexico men’s basketball team against Southern California: With three 7-foot-plus players on its roster, the Trojans boast one of the biggest lineups UNM has seen this year.
“I haven’t played against a 7-footer in a while,” Lobo sophomore center Alex Kirk said. “You don’t see it very much; teams just don’t have many 7-footers. That’ll be a fun matchup.”
UNM (8-0) returns to The Pit Wednesday for its second three-game nonconference home stand. Tipoff with USC is at 8:15 p.m.
Following Saturday’s overtime victory at Indiana State, the Lobos climbed to No. 18 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 media poll and No. 20 in this week’s coaches poll.
The Lobos and Trojans (3-4) have played against each other 10 times. UNM won the last four meetings, including last year’s 44-41 decision at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. UNM leads the series 3-1 in games at The Pit.
“This is about as good a .500 basketball team you’re going to find,” UNM head coach Steve Alford said of USC. “One of the reasons they’re 3-4 is their schedule. If our strength of schedule is (ranked) 16th, theirs has to be 1, 2, 3, because they’ve played everybody.”
USC, a Pacific-12 Conference member, enters the game following a 63-51 loss at Nebraska on Monday. The Trojans have wins over Texas, Coppin State and Long Beach State.
At 7 feet 2 inches, junior center Omar Oraby is the Trojans’ tallest player. Senior center James Blasczyk stands at 7-1 and junior forward Dewayne Dedmon is 7-0. During USC’s first seven games, the trio accounted for a collective average of 14 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Dedmon averages 7.4 boards per game.
In the post, the Lobos counter with Kirk, also a 7-footer, and 6-9 junior forward Cameron Bairstow. Kirk is among UNM’s leaders, averaging 11.5 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game.
Bairstow ranks third in rebounding with 5.6 per game, scoring 8.9 points per game.
“We’re all going to play the roles we have been, but they’re a bigger team,” Kirk said. “It just depends how we get them into foul trouble or how they get into foul trouble. That’s how our minutes are going to be used this year, so we’ll see how that goes.”
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Junior guards Kendall Williams and Tony Snell continue to lead UNM scoring with 14.3 and 12.9 points per game, respectively. For comparison, two guards also pace the USC scoring offense: Junior J.T. Terrell has 12.7 per game and senior Eric Wise has 10.4 per game.
As a team, UNM scores 72.3 points per game, gives up 62.7 points and connects on 41.4 percent from the field. The Lobos’ free throw percentage, 79.3 percent, ranks third in the nation. USC averages 63.9 points scored and makes 40 percent of its field goals.
“We played a difficult schedule. We have a great RPI, a great overall record, and we’re not shooting the ball well,” Alford said. “We’ve got to continue to improve defensively. Our guys fight. We’re competing like crazy; we fight hard on every possession. And that’s why we’re 8-0.”
MWC in the polls
UNM isn’t the only Mountain West Conference team garnering national attention. San Diego State is 17th in the media poll and 15th in the coaches poll. UNLV is ranked No. 21 by the media and 18 by the coaches. The Aztecs and Runnin’ Rebels both have 5-1 records.
Three other MWC teams — Wyoming, Boise State and Colorado State — received votes in both polls this week.
“Our league is going to be a tremendous league,” Alford said. “That’s why it’s important to continue to, hopefully, stay healthy and keep getting better. We know we have a high ceiling, and that’s why we’ve got to keep getting better.”
Men’s basketball vs. USC
Today
8:15 p.m.
The Pit
