UNM Game Notes | FS Game Notes | Live Audio | Live Stats
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team is set to begin the 2017 Mountain West Championships at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fifth seeded Lobos are set to take on fourth-seeded Fresno State Thursday in the quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. MT. The game will air on CBS Sports Network (Comcast 274/838 HD, DISH 158, DirecTV 221).
The Lobos enter the tournament with history on their side. New Mexico has won four MW Tournament Championships, the most of any program past or present. Three of those championships came in the last five years, when the Lobos became the first team to win three in a row from 2012-14.
The current Lobo squad will look to win the program’s fifth tournament title. New Mexico enters the tournament as the league’s best shooting squad of the 11 Mountain West teams as 46.1 percent, which is the second straight year the Lobos go into the tournament with the best shooting percentage among the league. The Lobos also are the best free throw shooting team in the conference at 75.2 percent.
They will take their shooting precision into a third game against Fresno State. The Lobos and the Bulldogs split the regular season series with both teams winning on their home floor. The Lobos opened up the Mountain West schedule with a 78-73 win over the Bulldogs on Dec. 28 but fell 71-61 in Fresno on Feb. 18.
The Bulldogs will look to repeat as MW Tournament Champions as they claimed the title last season by downing UNLV, Colorado State and San Diego State in the championship.
The Coaches:
Head coach Craig Neal is in his fourth season as head coach and will be looking for his second MW Tournament Championship as head coach. His first came in his first season. Rodney Terry is in his sixth season with the Bulldogs.
Series History:
The Lobos and the Bulldogs will face off for the 26th time in program history. The Lobos lead the all-time series 15-10 and are 1-0 against the Bulldogs in the MW tournament play. The Lobos met Fresno State is the quarterfinals of the 2014 MW Championships and came out on top 93-77. That year, the Lobos went on to claim the tournament title.
Broadcast Information:
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Fans can find CBSSN on Comcast channels 274/838 (HD), DISH channel 158 and DirecTV channel 221. The MW Championship game will be televised on CBS.
For fans tuning in on the radio, Robert Portnoy will give the play-by-play action alongside analyst and Lobo great Hunter Greene on 770 KKOB, the flagship station of the New Mexico Lobos. This feed will also be available via the TuneIn Radio App.