It was a season of ups and downs, good times and bad times as injuries took their toll on the 2014-15 Lobo Basketball season. There were some highlight wins over a trio of NCAA Tournament teams, which included the season sweep of in-state rival New Mexico State. There was a memorable victory at UNLV and an emotional Senior Night win over Wyoming alongside some low points in the season along the way to a 15-16 record.
“Our season didn’t go as we thought it would,” said Lobo Coach Craig Neal. “We would have liked to have done a lot better. Losing is not what this program is about and losing is not acceptable. They (Lobos) understand that.”
Cullen Neal opened the season with a bang scoring 49 points in UNM’s first two games of the season but was derailed for the rest of the season with a severe ankle injury in the team’s third game versus Boston College in Puerto Rico.
The Lobos’ offensive game plan changed immediately after the loss of Neal. Losing the point guard wasn’t simply a loss of scoring, ball handling and basketball savvy. A domino effect was created. The loss of this quick point guard created subtle shifts both on offense and defense that New Mexico couldn’t overcome.
The Lobo most affected by the loss of Neal was senior Hugh Greenwood, who had been asked in 2014-15 to shoulder a role as a scorer. Initially, that request was based on Cullen Neal being on the court and taking pressure off Greenwood. Neal often would attract the best defender because of his scoring touch and his ability to break down defenses.
These qualities also would create open – and better — shots for Greenwood. The Boston College game was the perfect example of what playing alongside Neal did for the Aussie senior. Greenwood scored eleven points in the first eight minutes of the game playing off of Neal.
With Neal out, Greenwood carried the role of go-to scorer while also being asked to run the offense as the team’s point guard. He now drew the attention of the best perimeter defender. Greenwood took on the focus of opposing team’s defensive plan and finished the season with a 11.6 points per game average.
The domino effect also extended to injuries to other players including Deshawn Delaney (hand), Sam Logwood (shoulder), Arthur Edwards (finger) and Jordan Goodman (knee, foot).
“We didn’t think there would be bumps in the road like we had with injuries,” said Coach Neal. “We thought we’d have a better winning percentage. We thought we’d play a little better.”
The Lobos played well early and much of that success came behind an in-your-face, ornery defense. It was a defense that produced two wins over New Mexico State, the eventual champions of the Western Athletic Conference. It was a defense that held opponents to just 60.2 points per game.
That was the second-lowest points allowed by a UNM team since the 1983-84 seasons (59.3 points). The Lobos’ defense carried them to a number of victories early and the Lobos were the last team in the nation to concede 70 points in a game.
The Lobos went 23 games before Colorado State used the friendly confines of Moby Arena in Fort Collins to score a 70-59 Mountain West victory. The Lobos held MW opponents without a made field goal for spans of four minutes or more on 36 different occasions in 18 conference games.
UNM went on to post a 15-16 overall and a 7-11 league record that did not sit well with their second-year head coach. UNM averaged 62 points on offense.
“When you don’t win, it’s tough,” said Coach Neal. “We have won a lot of games here, a lot of championships and that’s the tough part of it. We need to become better at scoring.
“We didn’t finish the way we wanted to finish, but these guys gave great effort though out the season. The guys understand our goals were not reached this season, but they lack of effort was rarely a problem.”
The efforts of Neal’s Lobos once again were appreciated by Lobo fans. The Lobos lured 218,588 fans into WisePies Arena for an average crowd of 14,571. The Lobos were 18th in the nation and for the 49th consecutive season finished in the Top 25 nationally. It was the 12th season UNM has led the Mountain West in attendance.
Hugh Greenwood was a bright spot during the season and during his four-year career as a Lobo. He pushed himself into the 1,000-Point Club in 2014-15 becoming that club’s 33rd inductee. He was the third Australian to make that exclusive group joining Luc Longley and Cameron Bairstow.
He was the 17th Lobo to finish the season with at least 1,000 points and 500 rebounds and the second Lobo guard to finish with at least 1,000 points and 600 rebounds joining Lamont Long (1996-2000).
Greenwood was named to the NABC District 17 Second Team and also was named to the All-Mountain West Third Team.Greenwood wrapped up his collegiate playing days among the top ten in UNM history in minutes played (3,843 – 9th), assists (372 – 10th) and made three-point field goals (187 – 10th) in a career. The Tasmanian also set the MW’s record for conference games played in a career at 65, tying Boise State’s Derrick Marks.
While the senior’s fingerprints are all over the Lobo record book, his impact on the community has been as big as any student-athlete in New Mexico history. His breast cancer awareness initiatives made national headlines, and his Pink Pack charity has raised more than $52,000 for the UNM Cancer Center.
Greenwood graduates from the University of New Mexico with five conference championships, and was part the first program in conference history to win three-straight MW Tournaments.
Lobo senior Deshawn Delaney, who led the teams with his 11.7 scoring average, was named All-Mountain West honorable mention by the league’s media. Delaney was injured for the final two games of the season. Delaney’s scoring average jumped from 5.3 points per game as a junior in 2013-14. The Chicago native was named MW Player of the Week in mid-December for his 18.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in a pair of non-conference victories for UNM.
“Let’s not take away what Hugh and (Delaney) did for this program,” said Neal. “Part of a program’s culture comes from examples set by the players and these two Lobos are very much what you want a Lobo basketball player to be.”
When a basketball program is nationally known and respected, it gets testaments to that from different directions. Associate head coach Lamont Smith was named head coach at the University of San Diego, his alma mater. Smith became another branch in the Lobo coaching tree planted in Albuquerque. If you go back just two calendar years, the New Mexico program has had three assistant coaches named head coaches. Craig Neal was promoted to the head coach of the Lobos in April 2013, Craig Snow was named head coach at New Mexico Highlands in July of 2014, and Smith took over the program at USD in April of 2015.
While Neal demands excellence on the court, he also expects success in the classroom. The Lobos of 2014-15 were outstanding on that front. The teamposted a record-breaking fall semester with a 3.02 grade point average. It was the first time since GPA records were kept that a men’s basketball team exceeded a 3.0 GPA in a semester. Lobo Basketball has posted a team GPA of 2.50 or higher in eight consecutive semesters.
“There are a lot of goals in our programs and academic success is a cornerstone,” said Neal. “Of course, we strive for success on the court, but part of the culture of Lobo basketball is for our players to leave with degrees.”
With a pedigree of championships, a lineage of alums in the NBA and a head coach with seven MW championships, the program will grow from the 2014-15 season. A whole pack of Lobos saw time on the court last season with more reinforcements on the way in the form of redshirted players.
“We had a young team and a lot of the young guys picked up valuable minutes,” said Neal. “I think the future is bright.”
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