The Lobos (12-5, 4-1 Mountain West) defeated the Falcons 60-48 behind an upcoming leader on the Lobo squad. Freshman Sam Logwood scored a career and game-high 17 points on an efficient 6-9 shooting to go along with three rebounds and three assists.
“I just went out there and just did what coach told me to do,” Logwood said. “Yesterday he told me to just shoot the ball, don’t be hesitant and I’m trying to listen to him... I just went out there and played my game.”
Head coach Craig Neal poked fun at the freshman at the pregame meal because he didn’t score a basket in their last game against Utah State.
“I just gave him a hard time at pregame dinner,” Neal said. “I said, ‘You can’t score a basket? There probably hasn’t been a game you’ve played since you’ve been six years old that you haven’t scored a basket.’”
Senior guard Hugh Greenwood didn’t have his best game offensively, but he flourished for the young squad when he tied a career-high with four steals that sealed the game late for the Lobos.
“I’ve never been around a kid like Hugh Greenwood,” Neal said. “He can just win a game by himself at the end with deflections and steals and making plays with his heart. I just told my team, I hope that they watch him and I hope he rubs off on them.”
Greenwood hit his first two shots, both 3-pointers, but struggled the rest of the game. He finished with 11 points (2-10 FG), mainly due to shooting 5-6 from the free throw line.
The Lobos connected on 11 of their final 14 free throws to end the game and finished shooting 16-23 from the line. Neal said he was pleased with the way his team finished off Wednesday’s game.
“I was really nervous about that game,” Neal said. “Anybody that goes and buys into what the Air Force stands for, which is an unbelievable thing that these kids sacrifice to do and give up for the military, for the Air Force, it’s amazing, so you know they’re going to be tough.”
One area that Neal said his team needs to improve upon is the play of its big men -- Obij Aget and J.J. N’Ganga. The two combined for four points, due to neither finding a rhythm on offense as they were both in foul trouble for most of the game.
“They’re in a development stage. They have their ups and downs,” Neal said. “It’s like our team, we’re going to have our ups and downs still.”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The Lobos threw a plethora of zone defenses at the Falcons (8-8, 4-1 MW) to try and confuse the famous Princeton offense. This was the first game that Neal can remember that he didn’t have his guys play man-to-man at all.
“We threw the kitchen sink at them tonight - we played 2-3, we played 3-2 zone, we played 1-3-1 - we did a little bit of everything,” Neal said.
