Stevens: Neal's Lobos Edge Rebels 71-69 in Vegas
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – On The Mountain West Road
Wednesday: New Mexico 71, UNLV 69.
It was pretty much what you expected from Lobos and Rebels and exactly what you wanted, if you are a Lobo.
It was a heavyweight duel of punches and counter punches and it was the Lobos once again leaving the Thomas & Mack in a victory celebration. Once again, the Rebels’ court became Pit West.
This time it was a 71-69 regular-season win over the UNLV Rebels, who simply refused to go away. It was a huge road breakthrough win for the Lobos, who now have to face maybe a tougher foe in Laramie, Wyo.
“That was big for us,” said Lobo Coach Craig Neal.
The Lobos beat UNLV for a number of reasons, but the Lobos also came with two huge plays in the final 30 seconds. A follow-up layup with 11 seconds to play by Jordan Goodman put the Lobos up 71-69. Then Arthur Edwards stripped the ball from a Rebel as he drove down the lane in the final seconds looking to force overtime.
It was a gutsy play by Edwards, who reached across the Rebels’ body, but got all ball in ripping it from the Rebs’ hand.
“We made a play at the end,” said Greenwood. “The second half, we locked up (defensively) and we made some plays offensively: Jordan (Goodman) with that tip in.
“I was motivated tonight.”
Greenwood said he was fired up over some inappropriate messages on social media. He threw some long range messages at the Rebels hitting six of nine treys and finishing with 22 points. He was 8-of-12 from the field and added eight rebounds.
“Hugh Greenwood means a lot to our program,” said Coach Neal. “That kid gives everything he has to the Cherry and Silver. He is trying to do a lot for this team and I told him to just go out and be who you are and play your game.
“He came out pretty locked in, but he played within the offense. He took good shots and didn’t take off-balance shots.”
Greenwood was the only Lobo in double figures with his 22 points. Deshawn Delaney had nine points and six assists. Jordan Goodman and Arthur Edwards each scored eight points. UNLV got 20 points from Christian Wood, but only had six Rebels in the scoring column.
UNM shot 48 percent from the floor and UNLV shot 47 percent. The Rebels helped their cause by going 18-of-21 from the free-throw line. UNM went 8-of-10. UNLV had 13 turnovers to only six for the Lobos.
The win pushes UNM to 13-6 on the year and 5-2 in Mountain West play. UNLV falls to 10-9 and 1-5.
The teams pretty much took turns throwing punches at the scoreboard. The Lobos would get ahead on points and then the Rebels would do some counter punching.
The Lobos went up 48-43 on a follow by Joe Furstinger. UNLV then rolled out seven unanswered points to run to a 50-48 lead taking control of the scoreboard with a trey.
UNM’s Greenwood hit a long trey to push UNM up 60-56. At 5:30, UNLV evened the count at 60-60. Greenwood answered again with another trey and UNM was guarding a 63-60 lead.
Vegas punched back with a trey: 63-63. A key point was UNLV reaching the double bonus at the 4:30 mark. But could they get to the free-throw line and convert?
Delaney gave UNM the lead by driving baseline and dropped in a layup to push the Lobos up 65-63. UNLV went to the line to form a 65-65 tie. The Lobos drifted up 69-65 on a dunk by Obij Aget and a jump hook by Delaney. UNLV’s Christian Wood scored inside: 69-67 with 1:39 to play.
The Lobos came out of a timeout and lost the ball on the possession when Goodman was called for traveling on a drive down the lane. UNLV’s Wood threw down a dunk on a second-chance bucket at the other end and the teams were knotted again: 69-all. UNM called time with 35.5 seconds to play.
Vegas still had a foul to waste before pushing UNM into a one-and-one situation at the line. They didn’t use it. The Rebels allowed Delaney to drive the baseline and the shot rolled off the rim. Goodman was on the weak side for an easy put-back off the glass: 71-69.
“We wanted to go to D.D (Deshawn Delaney),” said Neal. “He made a heck of a drive and a heck of a play, but he just missed it. Then Jordan made a heck of a play.”
UNLV had nine seconds to force a tie – or go for the win. The Lobos came out pressing. UNLV got a nice look on a drive, but Edwards got his hand on the ball to knock it to the floor. Game over.
“The team tonight was 11 guys who were together and who played with a lot of consistency,” said Neal. “There was a positive vibe to our guys and they didn’t get discouraged (from the Boise State loss).
“Is this a growing up point for them? I really think it is. Now, we have a big game at Wyoming and we have to do the same thing. We’re in a really good place (mentally) right now.”
Neal said a key to UNM’s attack vs. UNLV was shortening the playbook. “I limited what we were doing so we can have five or six things that we can be really precise on and that we can get baskets from,” he said. “I thought we did a good job against the zone tonight. We were able to get the ball in the paint and make some plays.
“The guys are growing up. They are doing a heck of a job playing at a high level.”
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.