Despite 24 points apiece from Kendall Williams and Cameron Bairstow, the New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered its second loss of the season with Saturday’s 80-63 setback to No. 13 Kansas in Kansas City.
Almost immediately following posting a double-double against Cincinnati on Saturday, Cameron Bairstow went into the weight room at the Rudy Davalos Basketball Center to lift weights. He still had enough energy to lift weights even after playing a game-high 37 minutes in the Lobos’ 63-54 victory, where he registered 24 points and 13 rebounds against the Bearcats.
The New Mexico women’s basketball team continued its domination of in-state rival New Mexico State with a 65-55 victory on Saturday at The Pit. UNM (4-4) has won 34 of the last 35 battles between the two rival schools, including 12 straight overall.
Guard Kendall Williams (24 points) and forward Cameron Bairstow (20) combined to score more than half of New Mexico’s points in a 79-70 victory over in-state rival New Mexico State at the Pan American Center on Wednesday.
New Mexico redshirt junior center Alex Kirk said that while playing for the Americans at the World University Games in Russia, he spent time in the cafeteria with New Mexico State guard Daniel Mullings, who played for the Canadian team.
Kendall Williams: A game-high 28 points in New Mexico’s 73-66 win over San Diego. Alex Kirk: 21 points; Cameron Bairstow: 16 points. The rest of the Lobo roster: eight points. Three players accounted for the vast majority of UNM’s scoring output as the Lobos won their fifth game of the season Saturday afternoon at The Pit.
After struggling to sink shots in its first-round loss in the Thanksgiving Tournament, New Mexico rebounded to take third place with a 73-55 victory over Southeastern Missouri on Saturday at The Pit.
Despite clear improvements on its shooting, the New Mexico women’s basketball team’s losing skid continued with an 85-53 loss against No. 16 Colorado on Saturday at The Pit.
Though the No. 19 New Mexico men went to South Carolina with hopes of winning the Charleston Classic, coach Craig Neal’s aim was focused heavily on the team’s improvement. He said the team did that on Sunday, bouncing back from Friday’s loss to Massachusetts to take third place.
After losing the last two games against tough Texas opponents, the New Mexico women’s basketball team is finding that its struggles are not insurmountable. The Lobos’ struggle to sink shots have baffled head coach Yvonne Sanchez. She said that the team works constantly in practice and in the mornings to make sure that their shooting is on.
Kendall Williams forced one overtime session Thursday at the Charleston Classic in South Carolina. Alex Kirk forced a second. Cleveland “Pancake” Thomas ensured there was not a third. New Mexico’s sophomore point guard drained a 3-pointer late in the second overtime period, lifting the No. 19 Lobos into the second round at the Charleston Classic.
Head coach Yvonne Sanchez didn’t have an explanation for why the New Mexico women’s basketball team struggled to shoot the ball. It’s hard to come up with one when a team hits just 31.7 percent (19-60) for the game and 17.9 percent (5-28) in the first half.
Through the first half, New Mexico remained on pace to limit Charleston Southern to 65 points, coach Craig Neal’s target goal defensively. Surrendering 57 points in the second half didn’t get that job done.
The No. 22 New Mexico men’s basketball team captured a 109-93 victory over Charleston Southern for the Lobos’ second victory of the season. Here’s a Storify curation of tweets from the game.
By the time the New Mexico men’s basketball team takes the floor against Charleston Southern on Sunday, it’ll be eight days since its season opener. That suits head coach Craig Neal just fine. He said Friday afternoon has no concerns over ill effects from the layoff, granted by not playing a mid-week game.
Moments after signing his national letter of intent to join the New Mexico men’s basketball team, Xavier Adams said he sent head coach Craig Neal a simple text message. “It’s done, Coach.”
Playing up-tempo style, New Mexico had 40 first-half possessions against Alabama A&M. Craig Neal thinks his Lobos can play even quicker. “We pushed the tempo in the first half, but once we got to a certain number I didn’t see any reason to push the tempo again,” he said.
Despite trailing for the majority of the game, the New Mexico women’s basketball team remained focused down the stretch, winning its season opener against Loyola Marymount (0-1) at home. The final score was 69-65.
New Mexico men’s head basketball coach Craig Neal said he’s set on four players in his starting lineup. No real surprise, but it will be Cameron Bairstow, Alex Kirk, Hugh Greenwood and Kendall Williams — all returning starters from a year ago.
The key to the New Mexico women’s basketball season is in its bench. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said the two exhibition games have served the purpose of getting her team ready for the season opener.
Solutions by The State News
