New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – In WisePies Arena
Who/When: 6 p.m. (MT), Saturday – No. 24/24 Colorado State (14-0, 1-0 MW) at New Mexico (9-4, 1-0 MW)
On The Air: CBS Sports (Comcast 274/838, Dish 158, DirecTV 221); 770-AM KKOB/Lobo Radio Network
GoLobos.com: Game Story, Complete Stats, LoboTV, Quotes, Photo Gallery
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
You have to love the Colorado State Rams for what they bring into WisePies Arena on Saturday to play Craig Neal’s Lobos.
They bring an unblemished 14-0 record and a national ranking of No. 24. They bring a monster of a Mountain West test.
This is beautiful. This is Pit perfect. This is exactly what The Pit needs to rock at a level probably not yet seen this season. This is a challenge for the Lobos, but it also is a great opportunity.
Champions usually are defined by the quality of their opponents. If the Lobos expect to make a charge at the 2015 Mountain West title, it would be a good thing to shear these highly efficient Rams. This also is the Lobos first shot at a ranked opponent this season.
“We obviously need to play at a very high level,” said Coach Neal. “The Rams are every bit as good as their record and they obviously know how to win games.
“They (Rams) are going to play hard.”
The Lobos know how to win games, but they might have thrown out their best effort of the season on Wednesday when they ran past Fresno State 76-64. Neal said his Lobos looked brilliant – at times. They might need to be brilliant a few more times Saturday for the 6 p.m., tip with the Rams who are ranked No. 24 in both The Associated Press and the coaches’ poll.
You can’t exactly call this an offensive team (CSU) vs. a defensive team (Lobos) because in order to win basketball games, you have to play well at both ends of the court. However, UNM probably has played at a higher defensive level so far in 2014-15 and CSU’s strength might be their offense.
The Rams average 73.1 points per game and UNM scores at a 65.4 clip. CSU gives up 63.3 points and UNM allows 58.8 points per game. UNM’s 58.8 yield is 36th in the NCAA in scoring defense. The Lobos have not allowed an opponent to score more than 70 points in a game this season.
If you want to say the Rams’ forte is shooting, there are stats to back that up. CSU is hitting .464 percent from the floor and .383 percent from long range. Those are good numbers. If CSU can match those figures Saturday in WisePies Arena, the Rams might leave Albuquerque a happy herd.
The Rams are led by 6-foot-8 J.J. Avila with a 14.4 average, however there is balance on this team. CSU has six players averaging 7.3 to 14.4 points per game. The 6-8 Stanton Kidd gives CSU additional firepower inside with his 12.2 average.
The top shooting guard is 6-5 Daniel Bejarano with an 11.1 average. Avila is the top rebounder with a 7.4 average followed by Bejarano at 6.6 boards per game. Avila, Kidd and Bejarano are seniors and that experience has been a factor in CSU’s 14-0 start.
Avila and Bejarano also are unselfish with the ball as they have kicked out 46 and 49 assists, respectively. Avila tops CSU with 28 steals in 14 games.
The Rams’ balance makes it tough to think too much about one CSU player. John Gillon, a 6-foot guard, came off the bench to score 25 in CSU’s Mountain West opening win (71-65) over Boise State. Gillon is shooting 50 percent from 3-point range. Bejarano leads the team in 3-pointers made with 25.
CSU likes to attack the basket and the Rams like going to the free-throw line. They went 19-of-24 in the win over Boise State.
CSU coach Larry Eustachy said he was “not ecstatic” with his Rams’ play vs. Boise State. He said they played a half-step slow throughout the game. That likely is not the pace Eustachy wants to see from his Rams in The Pit.
The Rams will need to rebound well and play solid defense in order to leave Albuquerque with a Mountain West breakthrough (road win). The Lobos are coming off a win over Fresno State which saw UNM shot 80 percent from 3-point range and 59 percent from the floor.
“They were good shots,” Neal said in explaining one reason the Lobos’ percentage was so impressive.
The Rams’ defensive targets on Saturday are not a secret. UNM is led by Deshawn Delaney with a 14.4 scoring average and Hugh Greenwood is at 11.2.
Saturday’s game is New Mexico’s annual Alumni Day with former Lobos from various decades coming back to Albuquerque to be honored for their careers in the New Mexico program.
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former national award-winning Sports Columnist and Associate Sports Editor at The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net.