ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The schedule thus far has prepared the Lobos for conference play, which begins at home Wednesday against Boise State.
UNM enters conference 8-3 and having won its last two games and three of its last four. For the Broncos, BSU is 9-2 entering conference and having won six of its last seven games. Like the Lobos, their losses have come against Big 12 teams (Colorado and Utah for BSU, Colorado, Texas Tech and Cincinnati for UNM).
Wednesday’s game features the top two offenses in the Mountain West, with Boise State leading with 73.3 points per game and UNM second at 72.0 points per game. In addition, both teams are at the top of the conference in assists per game with BSU leading at 17.0 and UNM second at 14.2. Three-pointers will be prevalent in the game as UNM leads in three-pointers per game (8.8) and BSU leads in three-point field goal percentage (41.0%).
A further stat to follow will be field goal percentage as Boise State is second in the MW in field goal percentage at 43.6%, while New Mexico is second in field goal percentage defense at 37.0%.
SERIES HISTORY
UNM is 11-18 all-time against Boise State, but 7-5 at home including winning three of the last four played in The Pit. The Lobos split with the Broncos last season with each team winning at home.
The game went to overtime the last time the two teams met with UNM winning 88-83. New Mexico had four players finish in double figures, including 15 points from Joana Magalhães and 13 from Destinee Hooks. Alyssa Hargrove finished with a double-double on 11 rebounds and 10 assists, both game- and career-highs.
CONFERENCE OPENERS
The Lobos are 15-11 in Mountain West openers, 6-5 when opening at home. The last time UNM opened at home was the 2022-23 season against Air Force (won 70-58).
UNM has opened with Boise State three other times (2012, 2019, 2021), however, all three instances were on the road. UNM is 1-2 in conference openers against the Broncos (won 72-68 in 2021, lost 83-82 in overtime in 2019, and lost 65-45 in 2012).
New Mexico has won its last five conference openers, with its last loss the 83-82 overtime loss at Boise State on Dec. 4, 2019.
Coach Mike Bradbury is 8-1 in conference openers, with the Lobos starting at home only twice (2-0 and both times against Air Force). Wednesday will be the third time opening with BSU under Bradbury, with the Lobos 1-1.
FAST START
UNM is outscoring opponents 193-147 (+46) in the first quarter, 213-150 (+63) in the second quarter and 406-297 (+109) in the first 20 minutes.
WIN THE QUARTER
The Lobos have won the second quarter in seven games this season, scoring 20-plus points in six games (twice with 28 points, twice with 22 points, once with 24 and once with 20) and holding opponents to 16 points or fewer in seven.
Further, UNM has outscored its opponent in the first quarter six times (NAU, UNO, UTM, CSU, UA, UH), the third quarter six times (UNO, NAU, NMSU, UTM, UA, UH) and the fourth quarter six times (NAU, AT, UTM, UC, CSU, UH).
The Lobos have also held their opponent below 10 points in a quarter five times this season (five in the fourth quarter against NAU, five in the second quarter against Chicago State, four in the second quarter against NMSU, seven in the second quarter against UTM and nine in the fourth quarter against Houston).
Three times, the Lobos have held their opponent below 20 points at the half: 15 points (New Mexico State), 17 points (Chicago State) and 18 points (UT Martin).
UNM is 6-0 when leading after the first quarter, 8-0 when leading at the half and 8-0 when leading after the third quarter.
60-70
While the trend right now is 6-7 and scoring 67 points, for the Lobos the trend is 60-70.
UNM is 5-0 when allowing 60 points or less, including holding three teams to 45 points or fewer. UNM is also 7-0 when scoring 70 or more points.
NO THREES FOR YOU, BUT WE’LL TAKE THEM
UNM has held seven opponents to under four three-pointers in a game and three opponents to under 20 percent from three-point range, including New Mexico State (14.3%), UT Martin (16.7%) and Cincinnati (18.8%). In addition, the Lobos have held Colorado and Chicago State to 20 percent with Chicago State making three, three-pointers and Colorado four. The last four opponents have made three, three, four and four three-pointers, respectively.
Opponents on average are making 4.9 three-pointers per game, going 54-196 (27.6%). UNM is third in the MW in three-point field goal defense (27.6%) and 88th in the NCAA.
For the Lobos, they are making 8.8 per game and shooting 32.0%, led by Nayli Padilla with 24 made three-pointers (2.2 per game) and is shooting 37.5%. Laila Abdurraqib and Destinee Hooks are second with 19 (1.7 per game) with Abdurraqib shooting 41.3% from three-point range. Padilla is fourth in the MW in three-pointers made with Abdurraqib and Hooks tied for ninth. As a team, UNM is third in the MW in three-point percentage and leads in made three-pointers per game.
Nationally, UNM is 35th in three-pointers per game and 21st in three-point attempts per game (27.5).
OWN THE BOARDS
The Lobos lead the MW in offensive rebounds per game (13.4), defensive rebounds per game (28.9), rebounding margin (+6.5) and rebounding offense (42.3). UNM is 71st in the NCAA in rebound margin, tied for 41st in rebounds per game and 39th in defensive rebounds per game.
UNM has outrebounded its opponent in seven games and is 7-0 when doing so.
As a team, UNM had a season-high 56 against UT Martin with the largest rebounding margin against UT Martin (+35). Of note, the 56 rebounds are the most in a game amongst MW teams this season. UNM is led by Emma Najjuma, who has 63 rebounds.
SHARE THE WEALTH
In all eight of UNM’s wins, the Lobos have had three or more players score in double figures. Four times (UT Martin, New Orleans, Chicago State and Houston), the Lobos have had four players reach double digits.
Nine different Lobos have scored 10+ points in a game, led by Destinee Hooks with 11, followed by Cacia Antonio, Alyssa Hargrove and Nayli Padilla with five. Drew Jordon and Laila Abdurraqib in two and Clarissa Craig, Jessie Joaquim and Joana Magalhães in one.
UNM has also had six different leading scorers in a game with Hooks leading in four games, Padilla in three and Antonio, Hargrove, Joaquim and Craig in one game each.
The Lobos are 5-0 when Hargrove reaches double figures, 4-1 when Antonio and Padilla reach double figures and 3-0 when they both reach double figures in the same game.
Further, of UNM’s 287 made field goals, 156 were assisted (54.4%) with a season high of 21 against New Orleans.
Hargrove leads the team with 32 assists (2.9 per game) and is seventh in the conference in assists per game. As a team, UNM is second in assists per game (14.2).
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
While Boise State is 9-2 on the season, the Broncos are 0-2 on the road with both losses coming to Big 12 teams. Boise State shares one common opponent with the Lobos in Colorado (lost 83-53). The other loss came to Utah (91-58).
The Broncos have three players averaging double figures in Tatum Thompson (16.1 ppg), Natalie Pasco (14.7 ppg) and Dani Bayes (14.5 ppg) with Thompson also leading the team with 7.1 rebounds per game.
BSU has started the same five in all 11 games with Thompson, Pasco, Bayes, Mya Hansen and Libby Hutton. Five players have appeared off the bench in 10 or more games with Morgan Maldonado and Keirra Thompson playing in all 11.
As a team, BSU is outscoring opponents in the third (192-183), third (221-195) and fourth (216-193) and average 73.3 points per game and allowing 68.9 points per game. Of their points, the Broncos average 7.0 made three-pointers per game, led by Pasco at 2.8 per game who is shooting 51.7% from behind the arc and leads the MW in both categories. The Broncos are third in the NCAA in three point percentage (41.0%) with Pasco seventh and 24th in three-pointers (31).
Hansen leads the MW in assists per game at 5.3 and Thompson is fourth in the MW in field goal percentage at 46.5% as well as scoring. BSU has three players in the top 10 in scoring in Thompson, Pasco (seventh) and Bayes (eighth) and two in the top 10 in field goal percentage in Pasco (third, 49.1%) and Thompson.
Pasco, Thompson and Bayes have each led the team in scoring in three games with Hansen and Hutton leading in one game each. Hutton has led the team in rebounding in four games with Thompson leading in five games, and Bayes and Mason Borcherding in one game each.