Feb. 20, 2009
Lobo Basketball
What: Lobos vs. San Diego State
When/Where: 1 p.m., Saturday — The Pit
TV: Versus; Comcast 37 (Albq), DirecTV 603, Dish Network 151
Radio: 770-AM KKOB
Online: GameTracker; Live video on GoLobos.com
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
You have to wonder if Lobo coach Steve Alford missed the refresher course on “Coach-Speak 101” at the last NCAA coaches convention.
You know the course we’re talking about. The one where coaches learn to tap dance around reality while throwing out clichés such as, “It’s never over `til it’s over.”
Alford doesn’t do that stuff. He knows that his University of New Mexico Lobos have been pushed to the edge of elimination in the Mountain West Conference race and the San Diego State Aztecs are in The Pit hoping to give the Lobos one hard and final push.
He wants his Lobos to embrace the importance of the moment and fight like they are tip-toeing along the edge of a deep and nasty ravine and here comes a charging Aztec carrying a big push.
“We understand the tremendous amount of pressure that comes with this game and how much it means to the rest of our season and we have to find a way to win,” said Lobo senior Daniel Faris.
Said Alford: “If a championship is what you are after, we’ve lost as many league games as we can to try and chase down a championship.
“Is it going to be the end of our season, if we lose? No. Could it be the end of a championship run? Yeah. You are getting into late February. Our guys know this.”
The Lobos will walk into The Pit in fourth place in the MWC at 7-4. Alford thinks a fifth conference loss will force a team to shoot for second place . Utah is on top of the MWC at 10-2 and San Diego State and BYU are 8-3. UNLV is 7-5.
Those numbers are important to Alford and his team, but the Lobo coach admits that there is another number bothering him going into the game with SDSU. The Aztecs are 3-0 in their past three visits to The Pit and only one team ever has rolled off four straight wins in The Pit: UTEP.
“We need to change that,” said Alford. “I don’t like that.”
The Aztecs beat the Lobos 81-76 earlier in San Diego, holding off a furious UNM rally led by Dairese Gary and Phillip McDonald, who combined to score UNM’s final 18 points. The Lobos trailed 64-53 with 7:48 to play, but twice cut the gap to two points: 75-73 with 1:18 to play and 77-75 with 40 seconds left in the game.
The Lobos’ had problems with Kyle Spain, who scored a career-high 30 points and Lorrenzo Wade, who hit 21 points. Wade scored 19 second-half points last year in The Pit to pace SDSU’s 72-67 win.
“Obviously, those are their go-to guys,” said Alford. “But they have a lot of people who can beat you. They are a good team and I think this is the best team in our league. This team presents more problems for us than any other team in the league. It’s a very difficult game for us.”
Said Faris: “As they (Spain, Wade) go, their team goes. We have to shut them down, make things difficult for them. If you’re a competitor, you love an opportunity like this. There is a lot riding on this game.”
The Lobos’ defense of The Pit has been perfect this season in league games. They stand 5-0 and much of that success is due to defense. UNM held Air Force to 53 points, BYU to 62, Colorado State to 50 and Wyoming to 57 — the lowest scoring totals of the season for those teams.
UNM also is holding the enemy to a 40.1 percent shooting mark, No. 1 in the MWC.
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net. Previous articles are available at The Richard Stevens Corner