After a loss in Reno, the Lobos are back in Nevada this week to try their luck in Las Vegas. But luck has not been on the team’s side lately and has been especially bad when closing out the past two seasons.
In the last two seasons, the Lobos have only won three games in the month of February.
On Wednesday night, the first night of February, the UNM men’s basketball team will face the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a team that has seemed to be an underdog in the Mountain West conference, but also one that doesn’t fold easily.
“This UNLV game is going to be a tough matchup because it’s at their place,” said UNM head coach Craig Neal. “They beat us (in Albuquerque) so I’m sure they have confidence."
UNLV enters Wednesday night coming off back-to-back road losses. The Rebels have not had a hot season, sitting at 10-12 overall and 3-6 in the Mountain West — dead last in the conference standings.
New Mexico (13-9, 6-4 MW) had home court advantage last time the teams faced off, but it was the Rebels who walked away with a 71-66 victory at WisePies Arena, dealing UNM its second consecutive home loss at the time.
“We are going to have to play better than we did last time we were here and hopefully get another road win,” Neal said. “They can beat anybody in the league and they’ve shown that.”
New Mexico was the favorite to win that match and held a lead at the half. But the team wasn’t able to close things out during the second half.
Neal said that this time around, his team will have to handle the Rebels zone defense better and be more patient when looking to score.
Guard/forward Dane Kuiper hit a career-high of 17 points during that previous matchup. However, the sophomore won’t have a chance at a repeat, as he suffered a broken nose and concussion during the Nevada game on Saturday.
Neal said Kuiper’s absence will definitely affect the Lobos. He said he considers Kuiper a leader in defense, and not having him available makes the task more difficult.
The head coach also said he and his staff have decided to try to limit the amount of time the team plays zone defense. He explained that when UNM plays more than 20 percent zone, it becomes less effective.
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The coach said other players could get an opportunity to step up, including junior guard/forward Sam Logwood who’s been struggling this season. He has averaged 5.8 points, despite getting substantial playing time at 19.5 minutes per game.
The Rebels offense includes four players who score in double figures. Jalen Poyser leads the team with an average of 12.5 points per game, followed by Jovan Mooring (11.1), Tyrell Green (11.0) and Christian Jones (10.9).
The Lobos have had two consistent scorers throughout the season, and while both score at a higher rate than any player on UNLV, the team could use another scorer now more than ever.
Having two reliable scorers is not enough. Junior guard Elijah Brown leads New Mexico with 18.5 points, while senior forward Tim Williams averages 17.9.
Neal made the announcement on Tuesday that the Lobos will be without one of them for a while.
“It’s with my great regret that I have to announce that Tim Williams is going to miss a substantial amount of time,” Neal said in a release.
Williams has been suffering from pain in his left foot and the staff has decided to rest him as much as possible in order to help him get over the stress reaction and prevent further damage. It is not clear when or how long he will be out.
Although things are not going his way, Neal said he is trying to stay positive and show his players that they’re still capable of winning.
“They just have to keep playing one game at a time,” he said.
The match is scheduled for 9 p.m. and will be available on CBS Sports Nation and on 770 KKOB.
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.
