Stevens: Lobos' Rally Falls Short 70-59 at CSU
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball – On The Mountain West Road
Tuesday: Colorado State 70, New Mexico 59
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Really, there were a lot of reasons for New Mexico’s 70-59 Mountain West loss at Colorado State.
The Lobos let the Rams get off to a good start. The Lobos got off to a bad start. The Rams hit eight 3-pointers. The Lobos didn’t get much scoring from their posts. The Lobos had too many turnovers.
The Lobos also waited too long to up their intensity and try to cut into a fat 23-point lead the Rams had established at 44-21 with 14:33 to play. CSU was up 16 points at the half.
“It was a like a 12-round bout (boxing) and the first eight rounds they knocked us all over the ring,” said Lobo Coach Craig Neal. “The first half we didn’t play very well and that’s not the way we play.
“I was happy with our fight. I was happy with what our guys did in the second half. We showed a lot of heart. But you can’t come in against a veteran group like they have and not get physical and go at them early.”
The loss was New Mexico’s third in a row and drops the Lobos to 14-10 overall and 6-6 in Mountain West play. Colorado State goes to 21-4 and 8-4 in league.
The Lobos got an aggressive game out of senior Deshawn Delaney, who had 21 points and six boards. Hugh Greenwood had eight points and 10 rebounds. Xavier Adams had a career-high 11 points off the bench. CSU got 18 points from J.J. Avila, 14 from Joe De Ciman and 12 from Daniel Bejarano.
“I thought D.D. (Delaney) was outstanding, but I thought he was very tentative the first eight minutes of the game,” said Neal. “We have to have him come out at the start of the game like he did in the second half.
“I’m getting a lot of heart out of Hugh Greenwood.”
CSU did not sizzle from the floor shooting 35.7 percent from the field. UNM shot 39.7 percent. The Lobos made three more field goals than CSU, but the Rams went 22-of-31 from the free-throw line where the Lobos went 9-of-13. UNM won the board battle 43-to-38 and UNM had 16 turnovers to eight for CSU. UNM was whistled for 27 fouls and CSU was called for 14 fouls.
“Every game it’s a juggling act to see who has come to play and who hasn’t come to play,” said Neal. “If you look at the stat line, you can tell the guys who are doing a good job.”
The Rams came out of the break with a 35-19 lead and quickly upped it to 39-21. Coach Neal burned a timeout less than two minutes into the half.
The Rams did not let up. They formed their first 20-point lead at 41-21 with 17:30 to play. It went up to 44-21 before the Lobos made a run and were down 52-37 with 7:21 to play. The Lobos had cut into that 23-point hole, but had only cut a point off their 16-point halftime hole.
The Lobos were playing better during this stretch, but CSU also went through a stretch where they were jacking up the ball and not running much offense. UNM’s defense also had picked up some intensity and the Rams were having trouble scoring against the Lobo defense.
The Lobos cut CSU’s lead to 52-39, but CSU started to run its offense with more structure to work on the clock. CSU went up 57-40 before the Lobos made it 57-45 with 4:22 to go. The Lobos had enough time on the clock to rally, but would need almost flawless basketball on both ends of the court.
The Lobos got two steals off the 1-3-1 zone and cut the Rams’ lead to 57-49 with 2:48 to play. It was still an eight-point hole with the clock ticking and CSU in the double bonus at the line. CSU got two free throws at the 2:27 mark and CSU was up 59-49.
Delaney used the glass on a spin jumper: 59-51. Bejarano ended UNM’s hopes of a miracle finish with a long trey and CSU was up 62-51. CSU milked the clock into the 70-59 win.
First Half: Colorado State 35, New Mexico 19
“Any time you score 19 points in the first half, you are going to struggle,” said Lobo Coach Craig Neal.
The Rams jumped out to 14-point leads twice early with the second one coming at 30-16. The Lobos had four straight turnovers to help CSU return to that 14-point lead. The Lobos made it six straight turnovers which helped CSU go up 32-16. Neal called a timeout.
UNM came out of its huddle and hit a much-needed trey: 32-19. CSU ended the half with a buzzer-beating trey and CSU ran into the locker room up 35-19. The Rams were clutching a 16-point lead thanks to six three-pointers by CSU. Avila had 10 points in the half.
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.