ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Head coach Craig Neal and the University of New Mexico men’s basketball program have announced their complete schedule for the 2015-16 season. The Lobos’ 18-game Mountain West schedule is paired with 13 non-conference games and two exhibitions. Including the pair of exhibitions, New Mexico will have 18 home dates inside WisePies Arena aka The Pit next season.
“We are excited about our schedule for the upcoming season,” said head coach Craig Neal. “Our non-conference schedule will test our team with some really good opponents and some great home games for our fans. It will prepare us for a challenging conference schedule, which will be a tough game every night.”
The 2015-16 schedule features seven NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago with another three NCAA postseason programs included in the Diamond Head Classic field.
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The season begins with a pair of home exhibitions versus CSU Pueblo and Rogers State in the first week of November. The regular season opener will be Friday, November 13 against Texas Southern on Bob King Court in WisePies Arena aka The Pit. UNM will wrap up that opening weekend of the season with the first of its two Rio Grande Rivalry match-ups with New Mexico State in Las Cruces on Sunday, November 15.
The non-conference schedule includes previously announced games versus Northern Iowa, Rice and Loyola University (Ill.) in the first year of the reinstated Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge. The other away meetings are at USC and at Purdue. New Mexico will also have a tropical holiday season as a participant in the 2015 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu on December 22, 23 and 25. The rest of the field in this ESPN event includes Auburn, BYU, Harvard, Hawai’i, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma and Washington State.
Rounding out the non-conference opponents are Nicholls State and Oral Roberts. The Albuquerque meeting between New Mexico and New Mexico State is scheduled for Wednesday, December 16.
Conference play will begin on December 30 with the Nevada Wolf Pack paying a visit to WisePies Arena aka The Pit. The Lobos will face Wyoming and Colorado State only once during league play as they will not travel to Laramie, Wyo. and will only face the Rams in Fort Collins, Colo.
Senior Night will be on Wednesday, March 2 against the San Diego State Aztecs. UNM will wrap up the regular season three days later at Nevada.
*Dates included in this schedule are subject to change in accordance with national television packages.