New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – In WisePies Arena
Who/When: 6 p.m. (MT), Saturday – UL Monroe (4-3) at New Mexico (5-3)
On The Air: ROOT Sports; 770-AM KKOB/Lobo Radio Network
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By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
To quickly get your attention focused on the UL Monroe Warhawks from the Sun Belt Conference, here’s an interesting score to note:
The Warhawks visited No. 8 Florida and pushed Florida into overtime before dropping a 61-56 squeaker. Of course, the Warhawks also lost to Coastal Carolina and Robert Morris.
There might be a message here for Craig Neal’s Lobos: take the Warhawks seriously and you might have a happy ending.
“They are a very, very athletic team,” Neal said of UL Monroe. “A very dangerous team. It’s one of those games where, if we aren’t prepared to play, they could beat us. I think our guys will be ready. I think our guys will be focused.”
The Lobos have seemed to hit the court with more purpose and more intensity since the Lobos’ 66-54 Pit loss to Southern Cal. Of course, there is a natural process here. The young Lobos are expected to improve all that little stuff that wins basketball games. They also are adjusting to injury loss: Cullen Neal, Arthur Edwards and Jordan Goodman.
Neal (ankle) and Edwards (finger) are still gone on Saturday, but Goodman is available, but, says Neal: “I don’t know if I’ll put him into action, because I don’t’ know if he is in game shape to play.”
The Warhawks are not exactly a team with a storied history, but they are working hard to change all that. When they step into The Pit, it marks the first time since 2004-05 that UL Monroe (4-3) has been over .500 after seven games.
A win would give UL Monroe a 2-1 road mark for the first time since 1993-94. The Warhawks have a 74-65 road win at UAB, notched on Nov. 15. They have not beaten a current Mountain West team since 1986.
The Warhawks have a lot of players who can step up. They have had eight players reach double-digit scoring in a game this season. Like the Lobos, they try to do all those little things that win games. They are first in the Sun Belt in field goal percentage defense (.355), assists (16.5), blocked shots (6.4 per game) and defensive rebounds (27.1 per game).
The Warhawks try to take good shots. They are 3-0 when shooting above .500 from the field. That will be tough to do against a long and lean UNM team hot to defend WisePies Arena.
UL Monroe is led by 6-foot-7 senior forward Tylor Ongwae with a 15.4 point average and 7.0 boards per game. Junior Justin Robertson, a 6-1 guard, averages 10.3 points per game. Sophomore guard Nick Coppola is capable out front and had 12 assists vs. Louisiana College. The 5-11 Coppola averages 9.7 points and shoots .414 percent behind the 3-point line.
The Warhawks have some muscle inside. Junior Majok Deng, a 6-10 center, averages 9.6 points per game and 7.0 rebounds. The Warhawks also get inside production from 6-9 Jamaal Samuel, who averages 7.3 points, and 6-8 Marvin Williams with his 5.6 scoring average. Harvey DeMondre, a 6-7 wing, comes off the bench averaging 4.9 boards.
“They are tall. They are long,” said Neal. “They will cause us some matchup problems. We have to keep them from making 3-point shots.”
The Warhawks set a school record with a 67-point win (106-39) over Champion Baptist, but the games that get your attention are the road win at UAB and the overtime loss at Florida. The Warhawks held UAB to 65 points and held Florida to 61. Not bad.
But the Lobos also like to throw out the defense and do not need a high-scoring game to be on the winning side of a scoreboard. UNM has won scoring 62, 67, 69 and 62 points. The Lobos also have wins holding teams to 50, 55, 59, 58 and 47 points. No team has cracked into the 70s against UNM so far this season.
There probably won’t be 106 points scored Saturday in The Pit, unless you are looking at a two-team total. UL Monroe had solid depth with eight players logging 17.9 minutes to 30.6 minutes per game. Those eight Warhawks are the only players on the roster to have played in all seven UL Monroe games.
The Lobos playing on Saturday are led in scoring by Deshawn Delaney (13.5) and Hugh Greenwood (10.5). The 7-1 Obij Aget tops the rebounding charts with a 5.9 average followed by Delaney at 5.8. Greenwood averages 4.8 assists.
“It’s a good game for us,” said Neal. “But the biggest thing is for us to get better.”
The Lobos have four non-conference games remaining before the Mountain West season starts at home (Dec. 31) vs. Fresno State.