Stevens: Neal gets 26 in 79-55 Taming of Bengals
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – In The Pit
Friday: New Mexico Lobos 79, Idaho State Bengals 55
Sunday: Cal State Fullerton at New Mexico Lobos
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The Idaho State zone was no problem: New Mexico 79, Idaho State 55. The Lobos shot 44 percent and made eight treys. Sophomore Cullen Neal led the way with a career-high 26 points going 5-of-10 from 3-point range.
“It felt good,” said Neal, who went 7-of-16 from the field. “Everybody had a part in the win. I’m just trying to do whatever is best for my team to win. I was able to get open shots. They just came to me.”
Next, on Sunday, the Lobos face the Cal State Fullerton man defense. It hits The Pit on Sunday in a game Coach Craig Neal expects to be a bit more of a test for his young Lobos.
“I’ll have something for them,” Neal said of the Titans, who long ago stung a Norm Ellenberger Lobo team in the 1978 NCAA Tournament. “The key is we have to try and get better. They (Fullerton) are going to dribble-drive it, so we have to get better on defense.”
Neal said his Lobos were handed a scouting report on Fullerton following the Friday night win over Idaho State. He said he will stay up late breaking down the Idaho State film looking for things to improve on. The Lobos will talk about it on Saturday.
“It’s almost like a Mountain West Tournament feel where you have a quick turnaround,” said Coach Neal. “I’ll stay up and watch film tonight and correct what I need to correct. We didn’t shoot the ball as good as I like, but they (Lobos) gave great effort.”
The Bengals of Idaho fell behind 42-20 at the half and hung around in the second half to be outscored by only two points: 37-35. But really this was no severe test for the now 1-0 Lobos.
“I’m really happy with our performance,” said Neal. “Openers are always hard especially when you have a changing of the guard with new faces, new players. I was proud of how our guys played with poise and moved the ball and shared the ball.
“I think we were really good defensively in the first half. That was a good test for us early.”
Neal was joined in double figures by Deshawn Delaney with 12 points and Obij Aget with 10 points, 12 boards and four blocked shots. Hugh Greenwood added 11 rebounds on a chilly night (3-of-12) of shooting. Greenwood did have seven assists. Delaney went 5-of-6 from the floor and Aget went 4-of-6.
Coach Neal was able to dip deep into his bench and 11 Lobos reached double digits in playing time.
“He just does whatever it takes,” Neal said of Greenwood’s double-double. “He didn’t shoot it well, but I wanted him to keep shooting it. He does whatever it takes to win which is why we have a chance to be really, really good.
“I think I have two really good guards (Neal/Greenwood), who can shoot it or pass it and do whatever it takes to win. We needed (Cullen) to score the ball tonight.”
The Lobos ran to a 42-20 halftime lead and pretty much kept the Bengals in that hole most of the second half. At the 11:54 media break, UNM was up 51-32. Neal, who had 11 points at the half, had pushed his scoring up to 16 points and Greenwood had six assists and 10 boards at that point.
With 7:42 to play, UNM went into a media timeout with a 55-39 lead. UNM stretched that bulge to 75-50 at the 3:01 mark and rolled in for the 79-55 final.
First Half: New Mexico 42, Idaho State 20
The Lobos got 11 points from Neal and 10 points from Delaney to help form a fat 22-point lead at the half.
UNM shot 51.6 percent to 28.6 percent for the Bengals. UNM went 38.5 percent from 3-point range (5-of-13) to 12.5 percent (1-of-8) for Idaho State. UNM had 11 assists to four for the Bengals. . UNM had 16 field goals to eight for the visitors from Idaho.
The Bengals had nine turnovers and UNM outscored Idaho State 13-to-3 on points after miscues.
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former award-winning Sports Columnist and Associate Sports Editor at The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net.