Nov. 30, 2011
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UNM Game Notes – vs. Missouri
State 
Opponent Notes – Missouri
State
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – In The Pit
Saturday: 8 p.m., Missouri State at Lobos
On The Air: The Mtn-TV; 770-AM KKOB – Lobo Radio Network
GoLobos.com:Game Recap, Stats, GameTracker, LoboTV
Lobo Coach Steve Alfords roots — and “a lot of memories” — will step into The Pit at 8 p.m., Saturday when Missouri State visits.
“I’ve been away from there for 13 years,” said Alford. “They are bringing a good team in here. They play four guards all the time and it presents some matchup problems. I think it’s going to be a fun game.”
Alford began his coaching career at Manchester State, but his D-I career began in 1995 at Missouri State. Alford showed his coaching prowess quickly. His first year produced a 16-12 record and the next season Missouri State went 24-9 and made the National Invitation Tournament.
In his fourth season, Alford posted a 22-11 record and Missouri State advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Alford left Missouri State the next year for Iowa. He left Iowa after the 2006-07 season to come to UNM.
Alford might have found memories looking back on his days with Missouri State, but he expects a more fond memory to be formed on Saturday — a Lobo win over Missouri State.
The Lobos will be looking for their fourth consecutive win on Saturday. UNM is coming off wins over Washington State, Boston College and Idaho State.
The Lobos are led in scoring by Tony Snell with a 13.7 average. Snell is joined in double figures by Drew Gordon at 11.0 and Kendall Williamsat 10.3. Gordon paces UNM in rebounding with his 9.7 average.
The Lobos are 5-2 on the year with losses to New Mexico State and Santa Clara. The Lobos next game is Dec. 10 at Southern Cal.
Missouri State visits UNM as part of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge series.
The Bears are coming off a tough 68-63 road loss Wednesday at Oral Roberts, the preseason favorite to win the Summit League. MSU fell behind by 15 points midway through the second half before making a mad rush in the final minute with three three-pointers in the deciding moments.
That loss was the first of the season for the 4-1 Bears.
Wednesday:Lobos 65, Idaho State 41
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Steve Alford’s Lobos had no players in double figures against the Idaho State Bengals, let a Bengal score 23 points, and UNM shot 41.4 percent from the field.
So, did the Lobos lose by 24 points or win by 24 points?
For sure, the 65-41 score Wednesday night in The Pit favored the Lobos and upped New Mexico’s record to 5-2. “That doesn’t happen very often,” Alford said of winning by 24 with no players in double figures. “We had really good balance.”
Said Lobo A.J. Hardeman: “We were just talking about that outside (the interview room); trying to figure out the last time we beat somebody by 20 with nobody in double figures.”
The Lobos didn’t have any real standout scoring stars, but UNM had 10 players on the scoreboard and simply rocked on the offensive boards with 22 second-chance rebounds.
The Lobos’ second-chance points and the Lobo bench were overwhelming with 26 stick-back points and 29 points off the bench. UNM won those categories 26-8 and 29-9.
“We were concerned about this game and we never got in rhythm on offense,” said Alford. “We didn’t get the 3-ball to go down and we couldn’t make foul shots.
“But I like what we did on defense. We defended them and did it while keeping them off the line. On a night when you aren’t clicking and not making shots, you need to rely on your defense.”
Amazingly, out of 22 players on the Bob King Floor Wednesday, there was only one in double figures: Idaho State’s Melvin Morgan with 23 points on 8-of-19 shooting. You take Morgan out of the Bengals’ shooting stats and they were ice cold from the floor. You include him and they still only shot 29.6 percent.
The Bengals shot only four free throws while UNM went to the charity stripe 24 times – making only 12 for a 50 percent rate.
Senior Drew Gordon paced UNM’s board work with 13, five offensive. “He has been very active,” Alford said of Gordon. “He’s moving well at the offensive end, but I like what he is doing at the defensive end.”
Cameron Bairstow had three offensive rebounds for UNM. “We really like his development,” Alford said of Bairstow.
The Lobo scoring charts were topped by A.J. Hardeman and Demetrius Walker with nine apiece.
Idaho State had only six assists to 17 turnovers. UNM had 14 assists and 15 turnovers. UNM’s Hugh Greenwood snapped his string of four straight games with no turnovers. He had two vs. the Bengals. Morgan had seven miscues for the Bengals.
“I thought most of our turnovers happened in transition,” said Alford. “I’m upset with the turnovers, but turnovers on post feeds, I don’t mind as much. I think our assists would have been up, if we had made more threes.”
Tony Snell, UNM’s leading scorer, had only five points, going 1-of-5 from the field. The Lobo sophomore tweaked an ankle and played only 20 minutes. The Lobos shooting percentage was damaged from long range where they went 5-of-23 for 21.7 percent.
“I thought we brought really good energy, but we didn’t have that giddy-up,” said Alford. “We never got into rhythm, but the game was never in question because of what we did on defense.”
Said Walker: “We have to play defense. We have to. If we don’t play defense, we won’t beat anybody. There’s going to be nights, like tonight, where offensively we just can’t make any shots, and that’s when we have to stop people.”
The Lobos broke out of a surprising 17-16 hole to grab a 35-22 lead at the half. The Lobos kept pulling away. A Hardeman layup made it 45-26 at the 16:04 mark. Walker hit two free throws to make it 54-31 at with 7:45 to play. Coach Alford gave his bench a lot of minutes and UNM pulled away for the 65-41 win.
Bairstow got the most minutes off the bench with 19. Jamal Fenton played 18, Walker played 16 and Phillip McDonald got in 13 minutes. Chad Adams played eight minutes and Dominique Dunning played five.
The Lobos actually trailed in this game. A 3-pointer by Melvin Morgan dumped the Lobos in a 5-2 hole. Morgan again from long range and Idaho State was up 17-16 with 9:17 to play in the first half. The Lobos then went on a run to make it a 30-18 count. UNM pulled into the half up 35-22.
The Lobos shot 42.9 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but Idaho State wasn’t too far behind at 37.5 percent. UNM won the first-half board battle 20-13 and had 16 points in the paint while the Bengals had eight points. UNM’s balance and its bench came through, outscoring the Bengals’ bench 14-6. Morgan had 11 points for Idaho State in the first half.