Stevens: Neal's Lobos Fall 63-60 to Utah State
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – In WisePies Arena/The Pit
Saturday: Utah State 63, New Mexico 60
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The stat line suggests a different outcome than New Mexico’s 63-60 Mountain West fall to Utah State Saturday in WisePies Arena.
The Lobos outrebounded Utah State by ten (36-26), had eight more second-chance points, outscored the Aggies 34-24 in the paint and had only ten turnovers. The Lobos also got 19 bench points to four for the Aggies.
But still lost.
“We have been snake bit since Wyoming,” said Lobo Coach Craig Neal. “We just couldn’t get it done at the end. We have to regroup.”
The Lobos don’t’ have much time to regroup. New Mexico plays at Colorado State on Tuesday and Moby Arena will be a tough place to snap a two-game Mountain West losing streak. UNM is now 14-9 on the year and 6-5 in MW action.
“These guys are good enough to get it done,” said Neal of his 2015 Lobos. “You can’t let home games get away. Our biggest weakness all year has been scoring.”
In a way, the Lobo defense did its job in holding the Utah State Aggies to 63 points. But Utah State shot 47 percent from the floor. That’s a good percentage to shoot in The Pit. The Lobos weren’t bad at 43 percent, but late in the game the shot selection wasn’t exactly to Neal’s liking.
“Our guys gave us some good things, but we had some guys not shoot a good percentage,” said Neal. “We have to be more consistent with our shots. We had some guys take shots late that weren’t really what we wanted. But they were open.”
A key stretch for UNM came when New Mexico got a dunk from 7-foot-1 Obij Aget to cut the score to 61-57. UNM’s Hugh Greenwood then got a steal, but the Lobos missed a drive to the rim. That led to Utah State’s Moore getting a breakaway dunk at the other end. Utah State was up 63-57 with 1:59 to go and held on for the win.
“I thought we were right where we needed to be,” said Neal. “We just didn’t convert around the basket and that happens.”
Utah State went 7-of-23 from 3-point range and UNM went 3-of-15. UNM was 11-of-17 from the free-throw line and Utah State was 6-of-10.
“I thought we played really good early,” said Neal. “I thought our guys played pretty good defense, but they made some shots. We fought back. At the four-minute mark, I thought we took some hurried shots that we didn’t have to take. I thought we just got in a hurry.
“We have to be stronger against the zone and try to get inside the paint. I wish we could go into a game and make everybody play man. We don’t have a zone buster. We don’t have the guys who can stretch the floor.
“It’s hard to get the ball in the paint when they (opposition) are all in the paint.”
The Aggies had four players in double figures led by Jalen Moore with 19 points. David Collette had 10 points and 12 rebounds with four assists. Darius Perkins had 10 points and six assists for Utah State. Aget was the only Lobo to reach double figures with his 10 points.
Deshawn Delaney was held to seven points taking only three shots. Jordan Goodman got off the most shots for UNM with 11 attempts. He had eight points and five assists off the bench. Aget added 11 rebounds and Greenwood had seven boards. J.J. N’ganga had eight points off the bench.
The Aggies were up 33-30 at the half and bumped it to 38-32 and 46-39. UNM called time at 13:36 – down seven points. At the 8:27 mark, Neal again pulled his team into a huddle down 54-46. Greenwood had only two points for UNM at that stop.
“They were guarding him,” Neal said of Utah State targeting Greenwood.
The Aggies came out of their huddle and extended their lead to 56-46. UNM cut it to 57-53 with the big shot in that run a 3-pointer by Greenwood.
Delaney drove and scored and the Lobos had scratched to 57-55. The Aggies were making a mistake – allowing the Lobos to find momentum in The Pit. The visitors called time at 4:09 holding on to a slim two-point lead. At the 3:56 media break, the score was still 57-55 with Utah State in possession.
Utah State added a free throw followed by an empty possession by the Lobos. Utah State’s Perkins hit a trey that came off the rim, but touched the backboard and fell in. Utah was up 61-55 with 2:50 to go. UNM needed a bucket.
“We were playing catch up again,” said Neal.
UNM got a dunk from Aget on a nice feed by Goodman. UNM then got a quick steal, but missed on a drive and the Aggies got a breakaway dunk from Moore. Utah State was up 63-57 with 1:59 to go.
The Lobos came out with a set play and got Greenwood loose on the baseline for a trey. He nailed it and UNM pulled to 63-60 with 1:56 to play. Neither team would score again.
Utah State missed a trey and Greenwood missed a trey. Greenwood forced a jump-ball situation that gave UNM the possession. Greenwood threw up a long trey, missed, and Utah State got the board. The Aggies called time at 45.7 still up 63-60.
The Aggies forced up a bad shot trying to beat the clock, but the Lobos could not convert on the other end. The Aggies got the 63-60 win.
“I told our guys after the game that you can beat anybody in this league, but you can’t, if you make mental mistakes,” said Neal.
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.