Stevens: UNM Lobos To Play Revenge-Minded CSU Rams

February 09, 2015

New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – On The Mountain West Road

Who/When: 9 p.m. (MT), Tuesday – New Mexico (14-9, 6-5 MW) at Colorado State (20-4, 7-4 MW)

On TV: ESPNU (Comcast 281/815, Dish 141, DirecTV 208)

On Radio: 770-AM KKOB with Robert Portnoy and Hunter Greene

GoLobos.com: Game Story, Complete Stats, Game Notes

By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com

For a New Mexico team looking to snap a two-game losing skid, this chilly town North of Denver might not be the place to expect a warm welcome.

And for sure Fort Collins, Colo., is not the place to expect an easy win.

The Lobos will be walking into Moby Arena on Tuesday night but they might as well be walking into a hornets’ nest – with the hornets wearing the horns of the Colorado State Rams.

For sure, the Rams remember what the Lobos did to them a few weeks back in WisePies Arena. The Rams strolled into The Pit as the No. 24 ranked team in the nation and carrying an unblemished record.

The Rams left with their first defeat of the season – 66-53 and it was a decisive win by the Lobos. The Lobos not only won by 13 points, but they held Colorado State 20 points below their season average.

It was not a good day for the Rams and surely not a happy memory. However, it might be a motivating memory.

“We know the challenge that we will face in Fort Collins,” said Lobo Coach Craig Neal. “They are an outstanding team with a lot of weapons and we will have to be at our best.”

The Lobos haven’t been at their best of late. They are coming off a hurtful 63-60 loss to Utah State in The Pit. That defeat was preceded by a 60-48 loss at Air Force. UNM has lost three of its past four games and need a road breakthrough to take some of the sting out of two Pit losses – to Utah State and to Boise State.

The Rams, as Neal says, obviously present a challenge. They bring a 20-4 mark into Moby Arena and are 7-4 in the Mountain West. UNM is 14-9 and 6-5 in league play.

That steep challenge might be a good thing for Neal’s Lobos. The Rams presented a similar challenge when they came to WisePies Arena and the Lobos threw out one of their better games of the season against the ranked Rams.

The Lobos’ defense was outstanding that night holding CSU to 53 points. But can UNM duplicate that effort in Moby Arena?

And can the Lobos put some life into their offense?

The Lobos are paced by Hugh Greenwood with an 11.7 average and Deshawn Delaney with a 12.3 scoring average. UNM’s next leading scorer is Devon Williams at 6.7 points per game.

The Lobos lean on Greenwood and Delaney to have good scoring outings and when that doesn’t happen – well, the slack hasn’t always been picked up by the rest of the team.

UNM also needs to establish more of an inside threat. UNM’s Obij Aget had ten points and 11 boards vs. Utah State, but he only averages 6.3 points on the season. The 6-10 J.J. N’Ganga averages 4.0 points. UNM’s best weapon inside has been Delaney attacking the rim.

The tempo of this game is pivotal to both teams. The Lobos would like to see a score in the 60s – or lower. The Rams would like to see a game in the 70s – or higher. CSU is coming off an 83-32 win over UNLV.

Colorado State is averaging 73.3 points a game and UNM averages 63.1. CSU’s defense is solid yielding 64 points a game. UNM is holding teams to 58.2 points and has yet to allow more than 70 points in a game. You can bet the Rams are looking to spoil that UNM mark – surely as payback for the Lobos spoiling CSU’s undefeated mark in The Pit.

Who knows? But you figure if CSU can score more than 70 points, the game isn’t going UNM’s way.

The Rams have an edge in offense in this game and the Lobos have the edge in defense. Another key for CSU is to be able to shoot a decent percentage from long range. The Lobos hold opponents to 29 percent shooting behind the 3-point line.

Another pivotal factor will be on the glass. The Rams are a good rebounding team, but you don’t want to let the Rams have too many second chances – not in Moby. The Rams return 66 percent of their scoring from last year paced by 6-foot-8 J.J. Avila at 15.6 points per game.

The 6-foot-5 Daniel Bejarano tops CSU in 3-point scoring with 42 bombs so far this season. The 6-foot-8 Stanton Kidd is another Ram to watch behind the line as he is shooting .465 percent from long range. Tiel Daniels is shooting .605 percent from the field.

“We have to try and stop CSU from playing at the tempo they want to play at,” said Neal. “We can’t give them 3-point shots and we can’t let them score in transition. We also have to match their intensity. The Rams play hard.”

The Rams also like to do a lot of things with the basketball on offense. They will try to get the ball inside to the post. They will attack the basket and look for easy shots or trips to the foul line. They will shoot the trey and they will score in transition.

“Our biggest weakness all year has been scoring,” said Neal. “We obviously need to improve that at CSU. We’ll continue to grind and continue to try and make our team as good as we can make it.”

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.

New Mexico Lobos 2014-15 Roster

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