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Kendall Williams: A game-high 28 points in New Mexico’s 73-66 win over San Diego.
Alex Kirk: 21 points; Cameron Bairstow: 16 points.
The rest of the Lobo roster: eight points.
Three players accounted for the vast majority of UNM’s scoring output as the Lobos won their fifth game of the season Saturday afternoon at The Pit. Williams, Kirk and Bairstow posted the team’s only points through the first 28 minutes until a Hugh Greenwood 3-pointer broke that drought.
Sophomore guard Cleveland “Pancake” Thomas added another five points after the Greenwood triple, but no other player hit the scoring column. The Williams-Kirk-Bairstow combination sank a combined 19 of 32 from the field, a 52 percent shooting clip, while the remaining roster made two field goals in 17 shots for an 11 percent mark.
“To be honest, I don’t want anybody else to shoot those shots, but I do have to get somebody else to score,” UNM head coach Craig Neal said. “Somebody’s got to get us some bench points. (Freshman guard) Cullen (Neal) didn’t score a basket. (Sophomore guard) Arthur (Edwards) didn’t score. We didn’t get any scoring for our bench, so some of those guys have to score.”
Sunday’s game featured a bit of déjà vu from a week ago. In UNM’s first loss this season, against Massachusetts, junior center Kirk ran out to a hot start in the first half while senior forward and front-court mate Bairstow sat on the bench in foul trouble. UNM lost that game 81-65.
The Lobos found themselves in the same situation against the San Diego Toreros: Kirk ran out to a 17-point first-half performance while Bairstow sat on the bench with two fouls, and SDU built a 27-15 lead with 6 1/2 minutes left in the half.
Craig Neal said his team came out somewhat lethargic at the start.
“I don’t know if it was the week off or what it was,” he said. “We didn’t come out with that ‘pop’ we normally have.”
The Lobos then responded with a 17-3 run to close the half, primarily through strong foul shooting. Ten points over that stretch came from the charity stripe, a perfect 6 of 6 from senior guard Williams and another four from Kirk.
In fact, Williams didn’t miss a foul shot all game, and his unblemished 16-of-16 free throw-shooting clip set a school record.
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He drained 13 straight foul shots before his only miss earlier this season against Charleston Southern, he’s shooting 92.3 percent from the line through six games, and moved into sixth place in career free throws made with 425.
As a team, UNM made 89.6 percent (26 of 29) of its attempts from the line, its best percentage this season.
“You know it’s an area that we talked about earlier in the year with the new rules,” Williams said. “It’s just being aggressive. We’re trying to still finish some plays, but if I can continue to get the line it is just as productive.”
Despite rallying for a 32-30 halftime advantage, the Lobos opened the second half with another flat start that San Diego converted into a 48-41 lead. Another strong UNM run, this time a 15-3 rally, pushed the Lobos ahead for good. Junior guard Greenwood’s only triple capped the spurt.
Though UNM never trailed again, San Diego kept the margin close and eventually tied the game at 61 apiece. But Williams’ key foul shooting came through again as he scored 10 points from the line.
Poor perimeter shooting did plague UNM as the Lobos hit 5 of 20 at 3-point range. San Diego finished 25 of 62 from the field, 9 of 24 from beyond the arc, and 7 of 8 from the foul line. Guard Johnny Dee led the Toreros with 25 points, followed by Duda Sanadze with 18.
In conjunction with its partnership with Nike N7, the Lobo team wore turquoise uniforms for the game in recognition of Native American Heritage Month.
UNM raised $7,510 for the Notah Begay III Foundation and UNM American Indian Student Services by auctioning off the turquoise jerseys and autographed NB3 items. Notah Begay III, a 1990 Albuquerque Academy graduate and the only full-blooded Native American golfer on the PGA Tour, attended the game as well.
