Stevens: Neal's Lobos fall 64-51 to Texas A&M
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball at ESPN Puerto Rico Tip-Off
Sunday: Texas A&M 64, New Mexico Lobos 51
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
You really couldn’t call the game any better than the time-tested cliché that Lobo Coach Craig Neal used after New Mexico’s 64-51 loss to Texas A&M.
“It was a tale of two halves in this game,” Neal said of New Mexico’s final game in the ESPN Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Yeah, it was. New Mexico was up 31-26 at the half, but were outscored 38-20 in the second half by a fired up Texas A&M squad. The loss dropped New Mexico to 3-2 on the season.
“We didn’t play as good a defense in the second half as we did in the first and you’re not going to be able to beat anyone when you allow them to shoot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half,” said Neal.
The Aggies were on fire in the second twenty minutes. They went 15-of-24 from the field. The Lobos shot 34.7 percent in the second half. That wasn’t too bad of a dip from the 38.5 percent UNM shot in the first half.
The difference was what the Aggies did – 31 percent to 62.5 percent.
“I was impressed with our guys in the first half,” said Neal. “I thought they battled but didn’t take the punch in the second half to respond and we couldn’t really get anything going.”
The Lobos got double-figure scoring from Hugh Greenwood with 10 points and Deshawn Delaney with 13 points. Obij Agent had seven boards. UNM lost that glass battle 36-29.
The Aggies got 18 points off the bench from Danuel House and 12 bench points from Alex Robinson. Jalen Jones was the only starter in double figures with 13 points and eight boards.
“You can’t continually lose four minute game after four minute game and think you’re going to win it. It just starts adding up,” said Neal of UNM’s strategy to divide halves into four-minute segments – and then win them.
“They kind of got on top of us, and we couldn’t answer their challenge. It was just a tough game. They have a nice team. They play hard. They’re athletic. They can make shots.
“I was proud of my guys. We had a good game plan in place. We just didn’t execute it in the second half.
“We’ll go back home and get ready for USC on Nov. 30th.”
Texas A&M dominated the paint outscoring UNM 30-18. The A&M bench also made a statement outscoring UNM 38-11.
The Lobos pretty much dominated the scoreboard in the first half and Texas A&M took over in the second half. There was only one lead change in the game. The Lobos had 16 turnovers.
“We worked our game plan well in the first half, but we had too many turnovers and mistakes in the second half to keep control of the game,” said Neal. “It got away from us. We started forcing and rushing things.
“We missed not having Cullen (Neal) in the game and it put a lot of extra pressure on Hugh (Greenwood) and a lot of guys didn’t step up in wanting to handle the ball and take good shots.”
Cullen Neal injured his left ankle in the first game of the tournament and did not play the rest of the way. He sat on the bench in street clothes and hobbling on crutches.
“We need to relieve some of this pressure from Hugh. We have to get some guys handling the ball better and making some plays.”
“So we will get to work on that and hopefully we will develop and get better. But I really like my team and hopefully the newcomers will get better. We can’t keep making the same mental mistakes over and over.
“I told the guys if they keep doing it we will keep subbing until we get consistent in doing it all right.”
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.