Over the last couple weeks, New Mexico men’s basketball coach Craig Neal said that some have not given his team enough credit about its win over Cincinnati, a foe receiving votes at the time but ranked seventh last week. A dominating win over the sixth-ranked team in the country should go a long way to rectify that.
The New Mexico women’s basketball team is looking for some positive momentum heading down the stretch. With only five games remaining before the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas, Nev., head coach Yvonne Sanchez said that she is not worried about her team’s ability to turn things around.
Lobo guard Kendall Williams scored a game-high 27 points in New Mexico’s 68-56 victory over UNLV Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
Despite late turnovers and poor free throw shooting, the New Mexico women’s basketball team finally got a close game to end in its favor. UNM (9-15, 4-9 Mountain West) ended a three-game losing streak, beating the UNLV Lady Rebels 65-58 Wednesday night at The Pit.
A reporter on Monday asked Craig Neal what is needed to win at UNLV this time around. The first three words the New Mexico men’s basketball coach gave were simple, yet direct. “Score more points,” he said.
The defensive side of the ball has caused problems for the New Mexico women’s basketball team, particularly in the late game. Take UNM’s last contest at Nevada this past Saturday. The Lobos held a 73-71 lead with less than a minute remaining, but let the Wolf Pack come back to win with a 4-0 run.
The top two scoring threats in the Mountain West went toe-to-toe Saturday afternoon at The Pit. Advantage: Cameron Bairstow. New Mexico basketball’s senior forward moved into the top spot in the conference’s scoring title chase after hitting 24 points in the Lobos’ 90-72 win over Nevada, staying on San Diego State’s heels in the conference standings.
The New Mexico men’s basketball team’s margin of error tightened with Wednesday night’s loss at Boise State, especially with a back-loaded schedule looming.
Youthfulness may be playing a large role in the team’s struggles late in the game for the New Mexico women’s basketball team. “I was looking at the roster the other day and I realized that Sara Halasz is the only player who has played in the program for more than two years,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said.
With two clutch threes to tie the game at the end of regulation, it seemed as though New Mexico women’s basketball team’s close-game misfortunes were about to come to an end. The Lobos were able to dig themselves out of a hole and send the game into overtime with all of the momentum.
The New Mexico men’s basketball team will have to wait to catch San Diego State in the Mountain West standings. The league-leading Aztecs lost on Tuesday night at Wyoming 68-62, giving the Lobos an opportunity to tie SDSU if they won Wednesday night at Boise State.
All signs are pointing towardsSan Diego State taking this year’s men’s basketball Mountain West regular season title. The Aztecs, who were picked to finish fourth in the conference in the preseason media poll, are 21-1 and sit atop the MW standings at 10-0.
Based on Wednesday’s results, the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball regular-season title race looks like it will come down to two teams — San Diego State and New Mexico. The Aztecs, ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 this week, and the Lobos hold the top two spots, while every other conference team exited Wednesday’s action with at least three losses.
The New Mexico men’s basketball team will wield its primary weapons, including center Alex Kirk and guard Hugh Greenwood, in tonight’s home game against Wyoming. The Cowboys aren’t so lucky.
UNM center Alex Kirk, back on the floor after sitting out two games with a leg injury, returned to take the opening tipoff Saturday night against San Jose State. Rather than tipping it to teammate guard Hugh Greenwood, Kirk sent the ball past the end line and out of bounds.
The New Mexico women’s basketball team snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday with a 76-73 win at San Jose State. Guard Sara Halasz scored eight of UNM’s first 13 points, finishing with 18 points for the game. She also hit a 3-pointer that snapped a three-minute scoreless streak in the first half.
New Mexico’s road warriors return home to The Pit for the next two games, concluding a stretch of 17 days on the road in the last 24. So far the road has not tripped the Lobos up since Mountain West play began earlier this month.
The defensive miscues are finally taking a toll on the New Mexico women’s basketball team. Wednesday night’s 75-69 loss to Utah State pushed UNM’s losing streak to five games, and the Lobos have allowed teams to shoot 43.3 percent from the field during the slide.
Despite a late surge by the New Mexico women’s basketball team, its struggle on defense allowed Utah State to walk out of The Pit with a 75-69 victory Wednesday night. UNM (7-12, 2-6 Mountain West) trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half, which proved to be too large of a deficit to overcome.
Forward Cameron Bairstow netted a game-high 22 points to lead the New Mexico men’s basketball team to a 78-65 win at Utah State Tuesday night. The Lobos (16-4, 8-1 Mountain West) played their second straight game without starting center Alex Kirk
Solutions by The State News
