Stevens: Technical Helps Lobos Beat Aggies 66-60
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – On The Mountain West Road
Saturday: New Mexico 66, Utah State 60
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Keeping your cool in a basketball game can be pivotal in determining a winner. In Logan, Utah, the New Mexico Lobos kept their cool.
Utah State’s David Collette did not.
The Aggies’ 6-foot-8 forward picked up a pivotal technical foul that helped create a four-point swing in New Mexico’s favor – 60-58 to 62-60. The Aggies never scored again and UNM held on for a 66-60 Mountain West road win Saturday night at Utah State.
The Lobos got 22 points and six 3-pointers from Hugh Greenwood, who also hit a back-breaking trey in the final minute that put the Lobos up 65-60. Utah State came down and missed a trey and that pretty much ended it.
“Hugh Greenwood played like he should be playing,” said Lobo Coach Craig Neal. “He took open shots and let the offense come to him.”
The big momentum shift came with 1:35 to play when Utah State’s Collette picked up his fifth foul trying to swat a shot by UNM’s Obij Aget. Collette did not agree with the call, said something to the official, and was slapped with a technical foul.
It was a crushing moment for a Utah State team that had scratched out of a 56-51 hole and into a 60-58 lead. The Aggies also had the ball with that lead after a Greenwood miss, but UNM came up with a pivotal steal.
The Lobos hit both free throws on the technical foul and then Aget added two more at the line and the Lobos were up 62-60 with 1:35 to play. The Aggies then came down and turned over the basketball which led to Greenwood’s killer bomb.
“Tough spot,” Neal said of Utah State’sDee Glenn Smith Spectrum. “It was the two toughest spots (Utah State and SDSU) to play in the league. It was a good learning experience for us to do some coaching on the road. I’m really optimistic about our team.”
Neal has reason to feel good. His Lobos return to Albuquerque with a 3-1 Mountain West record with that single stain coming at San Diego State – a place where a lot of teams will go down.
It looked for a while at Utah State that the Lobos might go down as the Aggies rallied into their 60-58 lead and had a tenuous hold on momentum. The Aggies first grabbed the lead 58-57.
The Lobos were paced in scoring by Greenwood with his 22 points and Deshawn Delaney added 15 more points for the UNM cause. Greenwood was 6-of-11 from 3-point range.
“He played within his game,” said Neal of Greenwood. “He let the game come to him. And D.D. (Delaney) was terrific. He was his old self. He came back.
“I love guys who want to fight and who want to compete. Our guys have taken on the passion of our town and our state and our fans.”
The Aggies got 22 points from Jalen Moore and 18 from Julion Pearre
A key statistic was New Mexico dominating the boards 36-to-22. UNM had 14 offensive rebounds. The Lobos were led in rebounding by J.J. N’Ganga with seven followed by Delaney with six rebounds. Moore had six boards for Utah State.
Both teams shot well over the 40 minutes. Utah State shot 46.5 percent and UNM shot 44.2 percent – 47.8 percent in the second half. The Lobos got off 52 shots to 43 for Utah State.
The Lobos ruled the paint both in rebounds and scoring. UNM scored 32 points in the paint to 16 points for USU. UNM used its rebounding edge to outscore Utah State 17-to-4 in second-chance points. The Aggies shot well over the Lobos, but did not score a field goal in the final 2:49.
“If you don’t buy into our culture about playing defense, then you aren’t going to play,” said Neal stressing the importance of defense to this team. “I’m really proud of my guys to get a road win.”
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.