The 24th ranked Colorado State Rams visited The Pit on Saturday night with an unblemished 14-0 record and were arguably the hottest team in the Mountain West. Apparently New Mexico didn’t get the memo.
The Lobos defeated the Rams 66-53 in front of 15,225 screaming fans in the second conference game of the season.
“I thought everybody contributed and everybody was awesome,” head coach Craig Neal said. “It’s always good to win those games against a ranked team in our building.”
Neal made a statement early as he walked down the ramp sporting the famous cherry red blazer. He has yet to lose a game when wearing the blazer.
“I think anytime you have a ranked team that’s undefeated, you’ve got to bring out the cherry blazer,” Neal said. “It’s got a pretty good record. But it is a big game. (CSU head coach Larry Eustachy) had them on a great run and he’s a great coach. They’ve got a veteran group and they’re tough. They’re hard to beat. Defensively, we were outstanding tonight.”
The Lobos threw multiple different defenses at the Rams including a 2-3 zone and a stifling man-to-man defense. They held a potent CSU offense to just 32.7 percent (18-55 FG) from the floor and only 24 percent (6-25 3FG) from 3-point range.
Seniors Hugh Greenwood and Deshawn Delaney have been on hot streaks the past couple of games. Saturday’s game was a little different, however. The two combined for 7 points on 2-12 shooting.
“That’s what’s disappointing because we still got our ass kicked,” CSU head coach Larry Eustachy said.
Freshman Sam Logwood had his best game of his early Lobo career after netting a game and career high 15 points. He was efficient as he went a perfect 5-5 from the floor and 4-4 from the free throw line.
Logwood’s success on Saturday was no surprise to Neal. He said that Logwood is in The Pit every Sunday shooting 600-1000 jump shots.
“His shot has improved dramatically,” Neal said. “All we’ve done is tweaked with it a little bit and decided on how high he should jump. We’ve showed him how to do it and he’s done the work.”
Redshirt sophomore Devon Williams had 13 points in the game, including an odd looking 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer sounded. When asked about the shot, Williams smiled and gave a coy response.
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“I wouldn’t call it a travel,” he said smiling. “I would just say it was unorthodox.”
Eustachy credited his team’s struggles to the atmosphere WisePies Arena aka The Pit brings.
“It’s one of the top five environments to play in and we didn’t get our game on on the court,” he said. “That was because of them (the Lobos), the crowd, the coach, the players, we just couldn’t get our game out there.”
Eustachy is now 0-5 against the Lobos, 0-3 at The Pit.
Cullen out
Craig Neal announced after Saturday’s game that Cullen Neal will submit the necessary paperwork to the NCAA for a medical hardship (redshirt). The NCAA is expected to make a decision by April. If granted, he will have three more seasons of play for the Lobos.
“He’s just not responding like we thought he would,” said Neal about Cullen. “He’s having a hard time jumping. I think it’s really tough for him. I know he’s emotional just because he wants to play with Hugh and wants to play with Deshawn.”
Anyone who has watched a Lobo game might have noticed that Cullen is always a seat next to his dad during games. Neal said Cullen has always been this way.
“Ever since he’s been a little kid, he’s been by me,” Neal said. “He’s been around our program and around how we’ve run our offense and around how we carry ourselves and the way we’re supposed to act since he was 7 or 8 years old at practices.”
Neal said he will continue to let Cullen travel with the team because he’s another set of eyes on the bench and the team looks to him for leadership.
Kyle Tomasi is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @KyTo22.
