Timely Shooting Trips Up The Lobos In Phoenix
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – On The Road
Grand Canyon 68, New Mexico 65
By Greg Archuleta
UNM Assistant Director of Communications
In Phoenix, the Lobos were bitten by timely three-point shooting on Tuesday night.
Grand Canyon intercepted a Hugh Greenwood inbounds pass with 5.8 seconds left, and the home team hit just enough free throws in the second half to take a 68-65 victory over the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team at the GCU Arena.
UNM (8-4) had a five-game winning streak come to an end prior to starting Mountain West play on New Year’s Eve against Fresno State.
Describing the last game before Christmas as “the worst” in terms of distractions, Lobo coach Craig Neal didn’t want to give into that as the reason for their performance.
“I’m not going to make excuses for my team,” he said. “It’s just one of those things where we didn’t play well. … They just didn’t come ready to play.”
The Antelopes (7-7) used timely 3-point shooting and a 15-of-21 effort from the foul line in the second half to hold the Lobos at bay.
“They played with much more urgency than we did,” Neal said. “That’s my fault. They (New Mexico) think they’re better than they are, and we can’t play the last five minutes like we should’ve played the whole game and expect to win. … That’s part of being a new team.”
GCU took control midway through the second half, turning a five-point deficit into an eight-point lead, thanks to its 5-of-10 shooting beyond the 3-point arc in the final 20 minutes.
The Lobos’ offense was up and down at times; their free-throw shooting kept them in the game in the first half. It kept them from getting back in the game in the second half. UNM hit 12 free throws in the first 20 minutes but was just 3-of-6 after intermission and missed the front end of a critical pair of one-and-ones that pushed the visitors deeper into their late hole.
Hugh Greenwood scored 20 points to lead New Mexico, and he hit a big 3-pointer with 14.8 seconds left that cut the Antelopes’ lead to 67-65. A Daniel Alexander free throw pushed the lead to 68-65, but miscommunication between Greenwood and Jordan Goodman on the ensuing inbounds pass allowed Joshua Braun to intercept the pass and run out the clock.
Braun, who led GCU with 18 points, gave the Antelopes their biggest lead of the game, 56-48, with 4:59 left in the game.
Walk-on Tim Jacobs missed on the front end of a pair of one-and-ones – at 3:09 and 1:39 of the second half – that hurt UNM’s chances of a comeback. Still, the Lobos clawed back to 59-55 on a Goodman 3-pointer with 1:51 left.
After Jacobs’ second miss, Greenwood came up with a huge steal, but Goodman’s enusing 3-point attempt was off the mark, and it forced the visitors into fouling Grand Canyon with 1:23 left.
Deshawn Delaney added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Greenwood had five rebounds and three assists.
“We can’t rely so heavily on Hugh and Deshawn,” Neal said. “We’ve got to get contributions from everybody.”
Goodman scored 10 points for UNM. Freshman Joe Furstinger had a game-high eight rebounds as the Lobos had a 42-31 edge on the glass.
Alexander had 17 points – he was 9-of-10 from the free-throw line – and seven rebounds for Grand Canyon. Dewayne Russell added 10 points for the Antelopes.
GCU got hot from beyond the arc almost midway through the second half after UNM had grabbed its largest lead of the game at 42-37.
Prior to Braun’s 3 at the 4:59 mark, 3-pointers from 3s from Ryan Majerle – GCU coach Dan Majerle’s son – Jerome Garrison and Braun sparked a 14-4 run that gave the Antelopes a 51-46 lead with 7:53 left.
For the game, GCU shot 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) beyond the arc. UNM came into the game ranked fourth in the nation in 3-point defense, allowing 25.3 percent per contest.
“I don’t think there was an urgency there,” Neal said. “I don’t think we were closing out like we can; I think we missed assignments. It’s a bad learning experience.”
A Delaney jumper in the paint with 13:37 left gave the Lobos their biggest lead of the game, 42-37, and it appeared as if UNM was starting to take control. But Jerome Garrison answered with a 3-pointer for the Antelopes that cut the lead to 42-40.
Both teams were slow to get into the flow of the first half that ended, appropriately, in a 30-30 tie.
Greenwood had 11 first-half points to spur the Lobos, who outrebounded the Antelopes 23-15. Braun had 10 points for Grand Canyon, which took better care of the ball with just two turnovers to New Mexico’s eight.
Free-throw shooting also kept the Lobos in the game, as they went 12 of 14 in the first 20 minutes. The Antelopes shot just five foul shots, making four. The teams combined for 12 first-half fouls.
Both team started off the game slowly with two minutes elapsing before GCU got on the board with a Braun 3-pointer at the 17:48 mark. Greenwood answered with a 3-ball for UNM 18 seconds later.
The Lobos’ biggest lead of the first half was three points on multiple occasions late after finding themselves down 15-8 at the 11:43 mark after an 8-0 Antelopes run.
UNM responded with a 12-2 as Goodman hit a big 3 and scored a pair of free throws and Delaney had four points and an assist to push the Lobos back in front, 20-17.
The teams traded baskets and free throws the rest of the way. Braun hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left that sent the game into the intermission deadlocked.
“We have very little room for error,” Neal said, “and our guys don’t understand that. They’re going to have a few days off before, and then they’re going to have a very interesting practice on (Dec. 27).