Dec. 30, 2011
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – In The Pit
Saturday: 4 p.m., Saint Louis (12-1) at New Mexico Lobos (11-2)
GoLobos.com: Game Story, LoboTV, Stats, Quotes, GameTracker
Ticket Special: Youth tickets (2-18) $5 for rows 1-10. Go to unmtickets.com.
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
It’s a game that really doesn’t need a major subplot simply because of the quality that will step onto the court when 12-1 Saint Louis visits 11-2 New Mexico.
These teams are talented, well coached and don’t like to lose. Their glossy records are a reflection of all that.
Then you have the subplot: Rick Majerus.
“Coach Majerus is a legend and a great coach,” said Lobo coach Steve Alford. “He has a lot of memories, I’m sure, of the Pit, good or bad. This might be the last time he gets to coach in The Pit.”
Majerus is the Billikens’ coach, but he is better known around these here Pit parts as the former Utah Ute bad boy. He was a bad boy simply because too often it was bad news when a Majerus-coached team stepped into The Pit.
This subplot has additional twists and turns, if you are willing to go that way. In a way, going against Majerus is kind of like coach Alford going against his former coach, Bobby Knight. Majerus comes from the same stuff. He is a fundamentalist. He has an eye for detail, spacing, honest effort and honoring the basketball.
Alford comes from the same stuff, too. You can see Alford’s appreciation for detail in how his Lobo teams improve throughout the season.
It was no accident that the Lobos lost to New Mexico State by nine in The Pit and then blew the Aggies out of their own gym, 89-69, Wednesday in Cruces. This is called teaching.
Majerus, an old-school teacher, seems to be working his old chalkboard magic in Saint Louis, too. At Utah, he was known for his appetite, his precise coaching, and living out of a Salt Lake City hotel. The same things apply for Majerus in Saint Louis.
He has his hotel room. He tries to keep his heart healthy with daily laps in the pool. He has the Billikens healthy riding a 12-1 mark into Albuquerque. He says his team is “better than the sum” of its part, but that was kind of the way it was at Utah, too.
His Utes didn’t always beat you with talent, but they always tried to beat you by winning all the little fragments of the game that become the whole. At Saint Louis, those fragments are seen in a few key areas:
Honor the basketball: Saint Louis averages 10.8 turnovers, 10th in the nation.
Take good shots: Senior Brian Conklin (15.0 ppg) shoots 66 percent, No. 7 nationally.
Play defense: Saint Louis is No. 5 nationally in scoring defense at 52.2 points per game.
Take good shots: The Billikens lead the Atlantic 10 in field goals percentage at 48.8 percent.
This season the Billikens have wins over teams from the Big East, Big 12, ACC and Pac-12. They are ranked No. 13 by one computer poll, and are receiving votes in the Top 25 polls based on voting. Saint Louis won the 76 Anaheim Classic with wins over Boston College, Villanova and Oklahoma. Conklin was the tourney MVP.
The Billikens have decent depth, but are lacking a true post presence. They try to start a game with height by inserting 6-foot-11 Rob Loe into the lineup. But Loe averages only 13.8 minutes, 5.5 points and 2.1 boards a game. The Lobos have the edge here behind Drew Gordon.
Conklin gets help on the scoring column from Cody Ellis (11.9) and Kwamain Mitchell (11.3). The Billikens do not want opponents to score into the 60s and they do not want the Lobos to run in The Pit. This Lobo/Billiken battle also will be over tempo and keeping The Pit crowd out of the game.
“It should be a tremendous atmosphere,” said Alford.
Majerus’ Billikens already turned some heads by winning the 76 Classic in Anaheim, a tourney that pulled the Lobos into the consolation bracket. If Majerus can leave The Pit with a win over a Lobo team that is playing excellent ball – a few more heads will turn toward Saint Louis.
NEW MEXICO LOBOS 2011-12 ROSTER/STATISICS
| Possible Starters | HT | Position | Season Statistics |
21 – Tony Snell6-7Wing14.1 Pts. – 2.8 Rebs32 – Drew Gordon6-9Post12.5 Pts. – 11.2 Rebs.10 – Kendall Williams6-3Guard11.2 Pts. – 4.7 Asts..03 – Hugh Greenwood6-3Guard6.3 Pts. – 2.8 Asts.00 – A.J. Hardeman6-8Forward4.1 Pts. – 4.3 Rebs.
| The NM Bench | HT | Position | Season Statistics |
40 – Demetrius Walker6-2Guard7.2 Pts. – 2.8 Rebs.13 – Jamal Fenton5-9Guard6.8 Pts. – 2.5 Asts.04 – Chad Adams6-6Wing4.2 Pts. – 1.6 Rebs.23 – Phillip McDonald6-5Guard4.9 Pts. – 1.5 Rebs.41 – Cameron Bairstow6-9Post4.2 Pts. – 4.0 Rebs.05 – Dominique Dunning6-4Guard1.9 Pts. – 1.0 Rebs.02 – Chris Perez6-1Guard0.7 Pts. – 0.0 Rebs.