March 6, 2009
Lobo Basketball
What: Lobos at Wyoming
When/Where: 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Laramie
TV: The Mtn (Comcast 276, DirecTV 616)
Radio: 770-AM KKOB
Online: GameTracker on GoLobos.com
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The goals for Steve Alford’s Lobos in the high-plains cow town of Laramie are really a handful of good things for the University of New Mexico. And the Lobos only have to do one thing in order to grasp what is within their reach.
Win. Beat a Wyoming team that is 12-2 at home.
“A normal road trip, it’s not,” said Alford. “We’ve worked awfully hard to get ourselves into this position and now we have to find a way to finish. There is a lot we’re playing for.”
The first thing the Lobos are playing for is really the big deal on this trip. If UNM beats the Cowboys at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, the Lobos will have at least a share of a league regular-season title. A league crown has not come UNM’s way since 1994.
“We really want that,” said Lobo Daniel Faris. “We’ll be playing so hard.” Said Alford: “I know we’ll play hard. I just hope we play well.”
If the Lobos play well, and win, here are some other benefits of a victory:
UNM will end the season 6-6 on the road, giving Alford two seasons as a Lobo with a winning record and a break-even record on the road.
The Lobos will enter next week’s Mountain West Tournament on a five-game win streak.
The Lobos will put another positive notch on their NCAA resume, which is important if UNM doesn’t grab the NCAA automatic bid that goes to the MWC tourney champ.
“I love that road record,” said Alford. “That would be back-to-back seasons where we finished .500 or better on the road. That’s pretty unbelievable, in my opinion. That’s as big as anything in what we’re trying to do with this program.”
Yeah, but there are two other big things Alford is trying to do with his Lobos: win league titles and get to NCAA Tournaments. The NCAA trip could come with a hot run in Vegas, but first things first.
UNM enters Saturday tied with Utah and BYU at 11-4. The Utes and the Cougars have an easier path to a title. BYU is at home vs. Air Force and Utah is at home vs. TCU. The lowest seed UNM could carry into the MWC tourney is the No. 3 seed, even if the Lobos tie San Diego State with 11-5 marks.
A league title is the carrot dangling in front of the (20-10) Lobos’ nose on Saturday. It won’t be an easy snack to grab. The (18-11) Cowboys probably are better than their 7-8 MWC record suggests and they definitely are a tough team in Arena-Auditorium, where they have beaten San Diego State and UNLV this season.
“Wyoming has a bunch of weapons,” said Faris. “They have a bunch of ways to beat you and they like to get up and down the court. The biggest key for us has to be our defense. If we play defense, we give ourselves a great shot to win. That might be what the game comes down to.”
In The Pit, the Lobos beat Wyoming 86-57 in a romp. The Cowboys were held to a season-low point total and their top gun, Brandon Ewing, was held to 13 points with nine points coming on treys in the final 3:28. Ewing, like his teammates, usually is a tougher hombre in Laramie.
“Brandon does so many things for his team,” said Faris. “He draws fouls. He knocks down his free throws. He hits threes. He’s quick. He gets steals.”
Ewing is only the second MWC player to ever score more than 2,000 points. He entered this season with a shot to take over the No. 1 spot. “I’ll let him get that milestone as long as we get the win,” said Faris. If Ewing gets that milestone against the Lobos, they might be in trouble. Ewing is 92 points away from the top spot.
“The key to Wyoming has been the same for four years. Brandon Ewing is a very special talent,” said Alford. “If Brandon gets away from you, it makes your job that much harder.
“Wyoming has four guys averaging between 11 points and 18 points (Ewing 18.7 in MWC games). Those four guys are pretty key to them. Another key is not letting a role player have a big night. But obviously a lot of attention will be give to Brandon.”
Ewing also might be fired up for the Lobos. The UNM defense in The Pit held Ewing to 13 points in three Pit visits prior to the 13 he scored on Feb. 3. It’s also Senior Night in Laramie. Ewing is a senior.
“We know how difficult Senior Night are,” said Alford, mentioning the fired-up Pit the Utah Utes saw this past Tuesday for UNM’s Senior Night. “We’ll get that same thing in Laramie.”
The Lobos three seniors – Chad Toppert, Tony Danridge, and Faris – have been outstanding for UNM, especially during the stretch run of the MWC race. Against Utah, that trio combined for 57 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists to three turnovers That trio also will be the target of the Wyoming defense – especially Danridge, who went off for 29 points against Utah.
If Wyoming is successful against those Lobos, then a UNM role player might be the key. Alford said confidence might be the biggest difference between the Wyoming team of Saturday and the Wyoming team of The Pit.
“I think they are a more confident team,” said Alford. “I think which team guards best is a key. We really defended them well in our building. Our ability to go into someone else’s house and defend the way we defended (in The Pit) is going to be a key for us.
“And it sounds simple, but you have to make some shots. You make some shots, it makes things a little easier.”
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 GoLobo.com articles can be found on The Richard Stevens Corner.