Basketball

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Womens Basketball: Bradbury putting the final touches on his staff

Liam Cary-Eaves | April 22

With two new hires this week, New Mexico's coaching staff is starting to take shape in anticipation for next season. Bradbury has most recently brought in two assistant coaches in the past week with the signings of Valerie King and Erin Grant. King has been coaching under Bradbury for the past six years at Wright State. Bradbury said it is nice to see a familiar face in the Land of Enchantment. 

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Sports

Basketball: Cullen Neal joins Ole Miss

Liam Cary-Eaves | April 13

Former New Mexico guard Cullen Neal will be trading his Lobo uniform to be part of the Ole Miss program. On March 13, the guard announced his decision that he would be leaving UNM to attend grad school and continuing playing elsewhere.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Bradbury takes the wheel for New Mexico

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 31

Mike Bradbury traded his gray sports coat for a red one as New Mexico introduced the sixth head coach in UNM women’s basketball history. Bradbury said at Thursday afternoon’s press conference that he is still getting acclimated to the concept of deciphering between red and green chile, having only been in Albuquerque all but three days. However, the head coach said he knew he chose the right place to move because of the history, the fanbase and the tradition at the University of New Mexico.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Lobos grew during up-and-down season, Neal says

J.R. Oppenheim | March 31

The youth and inexperience on this year’s New Mexico men’s basketball team became a consistent thread throughout the season. Almost every time head coach Craig Neal met with the media, he made mention to it. Moving forward, Neal said, the Lobos won’t be able to rely on the youth theme next year. Simply put, he said they can’t.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: New Mexico hires Mike Bradbury to lead women's basketball

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 30

New Mexico has appointed Mike Bradbury as the sixth head coach for the UNM women’s basketball program. Bradbury will join the Lobos after serving six years at Wright State University to replace former UNM head coach Yvonne Sanchez.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Brown to enter NBA draft, could pull out and return to Lobos

J.R. Oppenheim | March 30

Like many Lobo players before him, shooting guard Elijah Brown will see if he has what it takes to jump to the NBA level. However, the junior-to-be could still maintain his eligibility with the Lobos if that route doesn’t pan out at this time. New Mexico head coach Craig Neal, at his end-of-season press conference Tuesday, announced Brown, who had a breakout first season with the Lobos, will put his name into the NBA draft scheduled for June 23.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: UNM fires Yvonne Sanchez

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 18

Women’s basketball in New Mexico will have a different feel in 2016. Less than 48 hours after UNM was bounced out of the first round in a 75-67 loss to Weber State in the Women’s Basketball Invitational, Vice President of Athletics Paul Krebs announced that Yvonne Sanchez has been relieved of her duties as head coach. “I believe that five years is enough time for a head coach to really develop and produce a quality program,” Krebs said in Friday’s press conference. “I think the logical question is why extend coach Sanchez’s last year?”

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Lobos fall in first round of WBI

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 16

Going into the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational, New Mexico knew Weber State was fond of shooting the ball from beyond the arc. The Wildcats did not introduce any surprises and solid 3-point shooting bounced UNM out of the tournament with a 75-67 win on Wednesday night.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Lobos continue season with WBI contest against Weber State

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 16

New Mexico’s women’s basketball season has not come to a close yet as the Lobos have opted to play in the Women’s Basketball Invitational beginning on Wednesday. For the second straight year UNM will be entering postseason play, this year as the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Cullen Neal to transfer from UNM

J.R. Oppenheim | March 14

In a season filled with criticism from one segment of the New Mexico fan base, point guard Cullen Neal will transfer from the University, the Athletic Department announced in a email sent Monday morning. The announcement followed a tumultuous run for Neal in his redshirt sophomore campaign.

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Sports

Men's basketball: UNM falls to Nevada in Mountain West tourney

Thomas Romero-Salas | March 11

For the second year in a row, New Mexico went one-and-done at the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. UNM, the fourth seed in the tourney, suffered a 64-62 loss to No. 5 seed Nevada in the quarterfinals of the tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Lobos fall to Rams in semi finals; CSU remains unscathed in conference play

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 10

Colorado State punched its ticket to the conference championship game after Wednesday’s 60-42 win over New Mexico, potentially the Lobos' final game of the season. The victory solidified the Rams' national ranking as they remain undefeated against Mountain West opponents. The Lobos (17-14) only saw CSU once before Wednesday night’s contest, and the game came down to a final shot which fell to the floor as time expired. The Rams didn’t allow the semi-final round of the Mountain West tournament to be as close of a contest.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Lobos take down Spartans, advance to semis

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 8

The last time New Mexico faced off against San Jose State, the Lobos fell to the Spartans on a last second shot from beyond the arc. UNM didn’t offer a chance for the Spartans to write a heroic script this time around as they won handily 65-51 in Tuesday’s contest.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Lobos get fourth seed for MW tourney

J.R. Oppenheim | March 5

New Mexico heads into the Mountain West Basketball Championships as the fourth seed following the Lobos' 71-66 victory over Nevada Saturday night in Reno, Nevada. The Lobos were assured at least a sixth seed heading into the regular-season finale, but San Diego State's 92-56 rout over UNLV ensured UNM would receive a first-round bye.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Lobos will get either fourth, fifth or sixth seed for MW tourney

J.R. Oppenheim | March 5

The Lobos’ Mountain West tournament scenarios are simple: should San Diego State beat UNLV, the outcome of Saturday’s New Mexico-Nevada contest will determine what colors those teams will wear in a rematch next week. UNM will finish either fourth, fifth or sixth in the Mountain West standings regardless of any other outcome in this weekend’s regular-season finale. As long as the Aztecs beat the Runnin’ Rebels, UNM and Nevada will jockey for the fourth or fifth seeds.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Shumpert shines for squad on senior night

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 4

Forward Khadijah Shumpert led the surge in her final game at WisePies Arena on Friday night, propelling UNM to a 66-42 victory over Nevada. The game was back and forth until late into the third quarter. With a 36-36 tie, Shumpert decided enough was enough. The senior scored 12 of UNM’s 14 points at the end of the third and into the start of the fourth quarter.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Criticism affecting team's play, coach says

J.R. Oppenheim | March 4

As criticism continues to mount against Craig Neal and the New Mexico Lobos, especially on this current four-game losing streak, the negativity seems to be taking its toll on player performance. Neal said Thursday afternoon that he’s sensed some of the external noise about the team and references to the coach being “on the hot seat” has affected his players. Several players are active on Twitter, so it’s often difficult to avoid the comments, he said.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Sanchez's first recruits to play final game at WisePies Arena

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 3

New Mexico has ridden a bumpy ride to get to the final game of the season. Seniors Khadijah Shumpert, Bryce Owens, and Alexa Chavez will say goodbye to WisePies Arena amidst the up and down 2016 campaign. While the regular season is winding to a close, the three still have a shot to end their tenures on a high note.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Lobos blowout Aztecs on the road

Liam Cary-Eaves | March 2

New Mexico was left with a bad taste in its mouth after San Diego State came to WisePies Arena to take down the Lobos by a 51-46 score at home on Feb. 6. The Lobos did more than return the favor to the Aztecs on their senior night. 

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Lobos fall to SDSU, on four-game losing streak

J.R. Oppenheim | March 2

This time around, when the fans started departing from WisePies Arena with 3:49 left to play, there was no epic comeback to regret missing. Nor did New Mexico’s 83-56 loss on Tuesday night come down to a controversial call from the officials. San Diego State’s sizable lead remained to the final buzzer. By the time the final media timeout came in the second half, the Lobos (16-14, 9-8 MW) found themselves giving up a 17-2 run and down 74-52. The Aztecs capped the blowout victory by scoring 11 of the final 15 points for the final margin.