Stevens: UNM Lobos Pull Away From UCA in 76-55 Win
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – In WisePies Arena/The Pit
New Mexico 76, Central Arkansas 55
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The haircut Coach Craig Neal wasn’t happy with can easily change. He can cut it or grow it out. Or mousse it into meek submission. The suit he didn’t exactly like can go back into the closet. Hide it behind some modern wear.
But what about the New Mexico Lobos’ slow starts?
That was the third thing Neal mentioned in a postgame interview as not tickling his fancy in UNM’s 76-55 non-conference win over Central Arkansas.
“I don’t know what happened the first four minutes,” said Neal. “We haven’t been getting off to a very good start. The first three threes, they (UCA) bank in. That first four minutes didn’t put me in a very good mood.”
Said Lobo Hugh Greenwood: “We have to have better starts, especially at home. We can’t afford to have slow starts.”
A slow start in The Pit against an 0-8 team (now 0-9) probably isn’t a major problem. Greenwood’s point was that the 7-3 Lobos will face tougher foes down the road.
Still, the finish is always the most important thing. The end results on the scoreboard form the W or the L. The Lobos got the “W” Wednesday night in WisePies Arena steadily pulling away from Central Arkansas.
The Lobos were never in trouble after taking control of the game at the close of the first half, but the win probably wasn’t as easy or as dominating as it should have been against a team that came into The Pit with an 0-8 record.
The problem? No, not Neal’s hair. It was that start. UNM fell behind by nine points early (16-7) before a Greenwood trey finally handed UNM a 19-16 lead the Lobos never relinquished.
“I told the guys I was a little disappointed in the first half,” said Neal. “I thought there was a little bit of urgency in the second half.
“One thing about our team is we don’t have a lot of room for error. If we don’t play hard and come out with effort every time, we are going to struggle.”
The Lobos again won with a defense that sometimes is more impressive in its athleticism and length than it is in fundamental application of defensive principles. Still, what the Lobos do with length, athleticism and effort can be effective. UCA saw some of that Lobo bite by shooting 36 percent from the floor and 24 percent from 3-point range.
“I thought we really did a nice job in the second half when we held them for about eight minutes without a field goal,” said Neal. “And we made shots.”
The Lobos were paced in scoring by Deshawn Delaney with 22 points going 9-of-14 from the field and pulling down 13 boards. Greenwood added 14 points going 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself and I was forcing a lot of shots,” Greenwood said of breaking out of a shooting slump. “Now, I’m letting it come to me.”
UNM had 21 assists – a product of good shooting, but also a produce of better ball movement.
“I put on the board (before the game) that we have to start getting 15 or more assists a game,” said Neal. “We found the open guy and we got better in sharing the ball and hitting open shots.
“It’s not that hard to figure out what’s a good shot and what’s a bad shot. The ball has to move. You can’t always take a shot on the first side of the floor. We need ball reversal.”
The Lobos got nine assists off the bench from Tim Jacobs, who had no turnovers. “He doesn’t come in and try to do what he can’t do,” Neal said of Jacobs. “He has done a nice job.”
UNM had only nine miscues on the night. UNM had seven blocked shots and shot 46.6 percent from the floor. UNM almost shot better from the floor than from the free-throw line where UNM went 16-of-31 for 51.5 percent. Jordan Goodman also reached double figures with 13 points, going 4-of-8 from the field.
“I thought he did a good job, but he is so out of shape,” Neal said of Goodman, who missed summer drills and a lot of regular practice sessions due to injury. “I need to get him back in shape and playing at a high level.”
The Lobos got off to a slow start in the first half and found themselves in an early 16-7 hole. UNM steadily cut into that gap to claim a 35-30 lead at the half.
UCA hung around for a while in the second half. A dunk by Delaney pushed UNM up 60-47 – a lead UNM took into the media break at 7:16. UNM continued to drift away. A Delaney trey made it 72-53 and a Goodman dunk made it 74-55.
“Our guys played hard and they won another game,” said Neal. “We have only had one bad loss (USC in The Pit). We will continue to work on things and try to get better.”
The Lobos’ next game is Saturday at New Mexico State.