What happened on the night of Jan. 7 will likely still be in the back of everyone’s mind, but the Lobos finally get a chance to redeem themselves against Nevada on Saturday.
When the Wolf Pack visited the Pit earlier this month, the Lobos dominated for most of the game, holding a commanding 25-point lead with 11 minutes remaining.
And then it happened.
It was as if Nevada flipped a 3-point-shooting switch, a switch that helped the team make one of the biggest second-half comebacks in NCAA history.
The Wolf Pack successfully scored from beyond the arc 11 times in the last 11 minutes, six of those coming in the final 1:03. The game was pushed into overtime and Nevada eventually pulled off a 105-104 victory at the Pit.
But a lot has changed since then and the UNM men’s basketball team will take on the Nevada Wolf Pack, the No. 1 team in the Mountain West conference, will have first place hanging in the balance.
“Really excited for the opportunity of the challenge,” UNM head coach Craig Neal said. “Our guys have done a great job putting us in a good place. It will be a heck of a test."
Nevada (17-4, 6-2 MW) and New Mexico (13-8, 6-3 MW) are separated by just a half-game in the conference standings. And despite the ups-and-downs, the Lobos could take over the top spot in the conference with a win.
“You always want to be playing for first, all the time,” Neal said. “When you have adversity hit you, you are either going to go the other way or it’s going to make you stronger. I think it’s made our group stronger.”
But Saturday won’t just be about conference standings, it is a chance for the Lobos to show they aren’t the team that didn’t close out those final 11 minutes — how much they have grown since then.
Nevada's guard/forward Jordan Caroline scored a career-high of 45 points on Jan. 7, also the most points scored by an opponent in the history of The Pit.
It was a particularly good night for Caroline, who typically scores about 14 points per game. He’s one of four Nevada players who
Marcus Marshall leads the team averaging 21.5 points per game, which
Missed free throws are something that bit the Lobos in the last meeting. The team shot 35.3 percent during the second half, missing several in the closing seconds that could’ve sealed the victory.
Elijah Brown was seen well after the game ending, staying after the Pit was virtually empty to practice shooting from the foul line.
New Mexico did get its confidence back. During their 74-61 victory over Utah State on Friday, the Lobos went 17-for-17 from the line.
After back-to-back wins at WisePies Arena and four straight victories overall, the team is in good shape. It became the first team in Mountain West history to take down San Diego State, Colorado State and Boise State on the road in a single season.
“They’re excited about it. I’m excited about it,” Neal said. “It will be a great game for our conference. It will be a great challenge for us to see if we’ve made some strides. I think our guys are excited about that.”
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.
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