ALBUQUERQUE, N.M – The New Mexico men’s basketball team tips off the 2021-22 season Wednesday night as it hosts FAU at The Pit. Game time is 7 p.m. and fans can watch online on the Mountain West Network and listen on the Lobo Radio Network. Tickets for the game are on sale now at GoLobos.com/tickets.
Wednesday’s game includes a First Responders and Frontline Workers Recognition as UNM shows its appreciation for all the work first responders and frontline workers did in our community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Lobos are hosting a regular-season game at The Pit for the first time since Feb. 29, 2020, a span of 621 days. It is the longest span between home games for UNM since a 727-day gap from 1920-1922 when the university didn’t field a team in 1921. New Mexico played the entire 2020-21 season outside the state, while New Mexico Highlands had its 2020-21 season cancelled due to the pandemic.
Wednesday’s season opener is the first official game of the Richard Pitino era of New Mexico basketball. It is also the Lobo debut of the nine newcomers on this year’s roster.
The Lobos are coming off a 101-72 victory over New Mexico Highlands on Friday in their preseason finale at The Pit. Five players scored in double figures for UNM, led by Javonte Johnson and KJ Jenkins with 18 points each. Johnson also had a team-high 11 rebounds to post a double-double.
FAU went 13-10 last season, including a 7-5 record in Conference USA. The Owls return two starters from that squad, including Bryan Greenlee, who played his freshman season in 2019-20 at Minnesota for Richard Pitino.
New Mexico and FAU are meeting for the first time in men’s basketball, as the Owls are the first of two first-time opponents on UNM’s schedule this season. FAU is the first of three Conference USA foes on the Lobos’ schedule this season and this year marks the second straight year that New Mexico has opened the season against a Conference USA opponent.
After Wednesday’s season opener, the Lobos will travel to Colorado on Saturday before retuning home for a three-game homestand against Grambling State (Nov. 15), Montana State (Nov. 20) and Western New Mexico (Nov. 22).