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By most evaluations, New Mexico’s 2012-13 season will be considered a success regardless of how the team’s NCAA tournament run turns out. The team won the MWC regular-season title for the fourth time in five seasons and its second consecutive MWC tournament crown.
However, one burning question looms over the Lobos as they begin the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship. Will this be the year UNM finally breaks through to the Sweet 16? The Lobos have never made it that far in the tournament.
Today, the second round of the NCAA begins with 64 teams battling in the Big Dance. No. 3 seed New Mexico plays one of the final games of the day when the Lobos take on No. 14 Harvard in Salt Lake City. Tipoff for tonight’s bout is 7:50 p.m. and will be broadcast on TNT.
When teams get to this part of March, second chances run out. Win and advance, or lose and go home. The plan, junior guard Kendall Williams said, is to try to make it as far into the bracket as they can, not just into the Sweet 16.
“We feel like we’re just getting started,” he said on Wednesday. “We’re going to take it game by game, starting with Harvard and try to take a run just like everybody else is.”
Already a Lobo-crazy community, Albuquerque reached a fever pitch of excitement since UNM won last week’s Mountain West basketball championship and received its No. 3 seed in the West Region, which was announced during Sunday’s selection show. Harvard holds a No. 14 as the Ivy League champion.
While not common, No. 14 seeds beating No. 3 seeds is not unprecedented. In the last 27 years, it’s happened 16 times. Most recently, No. 14 seed Ohio pulled it off in 2010 when the Bobcats toppled No. 3 seed Georgetown.
If New Mexico (29-5) wins tonight, it will take on either No. 6 seed Arizona or No. 11 seed Belmont, who also play today. Half of the 64 teams play today at locations nationwide and the other half follows Friday. The round of 32 is Saturday and Sunday.
The Lobos have been named a Final Four favorite by some college basketball experts. Both CBS sports analyst Doug Gottlieb and Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis picked UNM to reach the national semifinals.
With the way it’s played the last month, UNM could be poised for a long run. New Mexico won nine of its last ten games, including three during the Mountain West championships against Wyoming, San Diego State and UNLV. The lone loss during the past ten games came in the Mountain West regular-season finale, which Air Force won on a last-second shot.
“It’s definitely a tough conference to play in,” junior guard Tony Snell said. “There are no guarantees that you will win a game because every team is great to beat any team. And as far as not getting recognition, that motivates us to play harder and try to win more championships.”
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Snell took his game to another level at the conference tournament, netting 17.6 points per game and shooting 52 percent in an MVP performance. On Dan Patrick’s nationally syndicated radio show on Wednesday, Gottlieb called Snell a player people nationwide don’t know now but everyone will know in two weeks.
“He’s positive. He’s focused on what the team needs,” sophomore center Alex Kirk said of Snell. “He’s never been someone that comes out and has to talk so much about his game. He’s quiet and he plays with his game.”
Before New Mexico even considers a Final Four appearance, it has Harvard to contend with. The Ivy League champion has three NCAA tournament appearances in school history but is in the field for the second straight year. The Crimson (19-9) has never won an NCAA tournament game.
Harvard averages 68.9 points per game offensively, shoots 48.2 percent from the field, and surrenders 63.9 per game.
Guard/forward Wesley Saunders leads the Crimson offense with 16.5 points per game, with guard Siyani Chambers averaging 12.9 per game and guard Laurent Rivard putting up 10.4 per game.
Winning the Ivy League with an 11-3 record, Harvard had a nonconference slate that included wins against Rice, Boston College and California. The Crimson has lost to two NCAA tournament teams — Saint Mary’s and Memphis which, coincidentally, play each other in the second round.
Over the last four seasons, Harvard has the best Ivy League Conference record with a 45-11 mark. Harvard and New Mexico have never played each other.
“You know, just the couple days that we have been scouting them, they look like they have some good guards,” Williams said. “We’re going to have to contain their dribble penetration. They can shoot the ball really well and they play at a high level. So we’re going to have to match that.”
