Dec. 26, 2009
Tuesday: Lobos 90, Texas Tech 75
Friday: Dayton at Lobos, 7 p.m., The Pit
On The Air: The Mtn.; 770-AM / Lobo Radio Network.
Online: Game story, stats, game notes on GoLobos.com
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
It probably goes down as a stunner to most of the so-called experts looking at the Mountain West Conference that the team going into the MWC race with the highest ranking and the best record will be the Lobos.
It just wasn’t supposed to go down like this.
The Lobos came off their first loss of the season — 75-66 at Oral Roberts — and dismantled Texas Tech 90-75 Tuesday in The Pit in front of a sold out crowd of 14,586. The Lobos led by 22 points three times in the second half in shredding the Red Raiders and pushing UNM’s record to 13-1 going into Friday’s game with Dayton.
Lobo coach Steve Alford says Dayton will be one of UNM’s better foes this season, but it’s easy to expect UNM to be 14-1 when the Lobos open MWC play Jan. 5 at San Diego State. These young Lobos are simply marvelous when it comes to protecting the Bob King floor.
The amazing thing is that the Lobos had a chance to go through their non-conference schedule undefeated — which might have made UNM a Top Ten team going into the MWC race.
The loss at Oral Roberts ended UNM’s unblemished run, but that loss probably wasn’t a huge surprise to Lobo coach Steve Alford, who did not look at the stop in Tulsa, Okla., as a fruitcake walk over a cupcake opponent.
Alford might have been a more surprised with his Lobos’ dominant performance over Texas Tech. The Red Raiders came into The Pit carrying a No. 19 ranking and were only in the game for about 10 minutes before the Lobos ran away from the visitors from Lubbock.
The Lobos loss at Oral Roberts falls into Alford’s category of “trap games.” His young Lobos were on the road playing against a program with a proud reputation for defending its home turf. His young Lobos also were tired, as much mentally as physically, from the grind of the non-conference schedule and the demands from the classroom.
And then ORU had to get hot and hit some key treys.
The Lobos’ win over Tech has to go down as a “Pit” game. The passion of The Pit was an obvious sixth man for the Lobos in their romp over Tech.
There is no question that it would have been sweet for the Lobos to enter the Mountain West Conference wars at 15-0.
Still, UNM already has accomplished the main two things you want to accomplish in the non-conference half of the season.
1 – Win games and get better.
2 – Win games and get national attention.
The non-conference season is the building ground for conference. It’s a time to look for player combinations, build chemistry, correct mistakes, improve defense, build confidence, smooth out an offense.
Did Alford’s young Lobos do this stuff? Well, they are 13-1 and worked their way to a No. 12/13 ranking. The win over Tech handed UNM three non-conference wins over opponents that were ranked in the Top 25. Alford seems to have a good feel on how to mix & match his ten Lobos. His Lobos are getting better both on the perimeter and inside.
The ranking stuff in December is more for show and ego, but it does carry weight. Teams earn their way into polls by winning and beating good foes. The Lobos have nice wins over Texas Tech, UC Riverside, Louisiana Tech, Hawaii, Cal-Berkeley, New Mexico State, San Diego, Texas A&M and Creighton.
The Lobos can add additional padding to their non-conference slate with a win over Dayton.
UNM’s December translates into RPI and national respect. This stuff is important, and remembered, when the NCAA Selection Committee meets to decide who gets to join the BCS conferences in the Big Dance.
The noise the Lobos have made on the national level also changes the way teams look at UNM. No longer is this the team picked to finish fifth in the MWC race. As sophomore Nate Garth put it: “Now, we have a target on us.”
The target isn’t just a bull’s-eye to be noted by MWC foes looking to beat UNM in that league race. A Pit win is always a good win for any MWC team’s RPI. Now, UNM’s national status makes a Pit win even more attractive. Alford said his Lobos need all MWC games in The Pit to be near full capacity..
“We’re going to need our home crowd,” said Alford.
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There also is great motivation for the Lobos to beat Dayton on Friday. The Lobos are in The Pit and UNM is a program shouldering a strong will to win at home. The Lobos also need to carry momentum and confidence into their tough MWC opener — at San Diego State. UNM also has a tough MWC home opener Jan. 9 vs. UNLV.
Things have changed for Alford’s Lobos. They entered the season as one of the youngest teams in the nation, but charged to their 13-1 mark and into the Top 20. They will not be eyed as babies by Dayton or the MWC. They will be bull’s-eyed as baby-faced assassins.
They have been targeted and teams will come at them hard and harder. Alford isn’t too worried.
“I’ve had players, who were maybe a little soft, and didn’t want this type of heat,” he said. “But I got a bunch of guys, who want more.”
Wish granted. “More” will be here on Friday in the form of Dayton. And “More” awaits in the season that counts the most — the Mountain West Conference season.