Greenwood finished with 22 points on a career-tying six 3-pointers. He also added eight rebounds and two assists. Greenwood, whose mother has cancer, said an anonymous Twitter account was posting jokes about cancer all week and taking shots at the Greenwood family. He credited his huge game to this account.
“Credit to him for getting us this win tonight,” Greenwood said. “That’s what motivated me.”
‘Motivated’ might have been an understatement, as Lobo fans everywhere saw something they haven’t seen in more than three years: a Greenwood dunk. With 13:02 left in the first half, junior guard Tim Jacobs came up with a steal that left Greenwood wide open for the two-handed flush.
The next leading scorer for the Lobos (13-6, 5-2 Mountain West) was senior guard Deshawn Delaney, who soared to the highlight reel after a massive dunk coming at the 16:22 mark in the second half. He finished with nine points, five rebounds and six assists.
There was also an unsung hero behind Wednesday’s win that netted the Lobos a two-point lead with nine seconds left in the game. The Lobos were tied at 69 with the Rebels until junior forward Jordan Goodman hit arguably the most important two points of his Lobo career.
Delaney drove baseline on the Lobos’ last possession of the game and missed a floater off the backboard, but Goodman was there — as he had been all night — to clean up the glass and finish an easy layup off the rebound. He finished with eight points, four rebounds and one assist in 16 minutes of play.
“We wanted to go to DeDe,” Neal said. “He made a heck of a drive and a heck of a play, but he just missed it. Then Jordan made a heck of a play.”
Defense is what the Lobos are still hanging their hats on midway through conference play, and Wednesday night’s game was no different. The Lobos have yet to allow a 70-point performance against them this season; they are one of only two teams in the country to accomplish this feat, the other being the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Junior guard Arthur Edwards also came up with a huge defensive play to seal the victory. The Rebels drove to the basket in the final seconds of the game to try and force overtime, but Edwards reached his hand in and got a clean strip that was recovered by Delaney as time expired.
Next the Lobos will travel to Wyoming to face the first-place Cowboys in Laramie on Saturday.
Wyoming (16-3, 5-1 Mountain West) is currently tied with San Diego State for first place in the conference, each having only one loss.
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The Cowboys are led by forward Larry Nance Jr., who is averaging 16.2 points per game and seven rebounds per game. Nance was an early favorite to win Mountain West Player of the Year, and he has made a statement so far this season. After an ACL injury he sustained last year, he has bounced back strong and been the leader that the Cowboys were looking for.
The Cowboys have lost only one game at home this season, and it came in conference play. Wyoming hosted the SDSU Aztecs earlier this month and lost 60-52 on their home court.
Kyle Tomasi is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @KyTo22.
