The weather is finally cooling down in Albuquerque but WisePies Arena is about to heat up.
The Lobo men’s basketball team officially tips off the season by hosting the Idaho State Bengals at 8:15 p.m. in Friday night’s season opener.
New Mexico has built up some confidence, as well as momentum, after winning both of their exhibition matches last week, with scores of 113-57 and 88-66 against in-state competition.
The Bengals also had a good start in their exhibition season, taking down Southern Virginia 89-55.
New Mexico has won its last 13 regular season openers, and will be looking for No. 14 on Friday during Heroes Night, where the Lobos will wear red jerseys with camouflage numbers.
Head coach Craig Neal said he thought this was a special way to open the season.
“The proceeds from Friday’s game will go to the Wounded Warrior Project and also the Army ROTC here on campus,” he said. “It will be a good night for us to remember men and women who have served and done a lot of great things for our freedom.”
This year, Idaho State was selected to finish fifth in the Big Sky preseason conference poll. Neal said the Bengals are not a team to be taken lightly, as he sees a lot of talent and potential on the roster.
“You are going to see a lot of zone. They’ve got really good backcourt, with (guard Ethan) Telfair and (guard Geno) Luzcando,” Neal said. “They are a really good team. It’s going to be a good challenge for us on opening night.”
The two teams have played a total of seven games, with the Lobos having won six of them. The last meeting was on Nov. 14, 2014, when New Mexico took a 79-55 win. Former Lobo guard Cullen Neal lead the team with 26 points in that matchup.
The Bengals’ lone win against the Lobos came almost four decades ago, in 1978.
Idaho State finished last season with an overall record of 16-15 scoring 74.1 points per game, but limited opponents 76.0 points per game.
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Telfair led Idaho State by averaging 20.2 points per game and was selected to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team.
The Lobos had slightly better stats, finishing the season 17-15 overall. They recorded 76.0 points per game and allowed opponents 73.4 points.
Elijah Brown led New Mexico with 21.7 points per game and is the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year.
Brown was absent from the court often this preseason due to a lingering hamstring injury. He missed several practices and both of the Lobos’ two exhibition games, mostly as a precaution.
Fortunately for New Mexico, Neal said in Thursday’s press conference that Brown is now healthy enough to play.
“I think he had enough time off that I think he is ready to go,” Neal said. “He’s had some good practices and seems really healthy. He’s going to come back. I think the first few minutes will be interesting because he didn’t play in the exhibition games, but I think he is ready to go.”
Neal added that a few members of the team have been dealing with some minor colds with the falling temperatures, but he expects the team to be ready to face Idaho State. The number one thing, he said, is to make sure everyone stays healthy.
The next most important thing? Good defense, especially against the pick-and-roll.
“I want to see if they are going to come out and guard. Guards are going to have to play really good defense,” Neal said. “Then, are we going to share the ball, are we going to move the ball? Are we going to limit our turnovers? Those are the main things that I’m going to concentrate on.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men’s soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
