In picking the UNM men’s basketball team to finish fifth in the preseason Mountain West Conference poll, media and coaches no doubt saw little or no inside presence for the Lobos.
Sure, the team had 6-foot-8-inch forward Brian Smith and recruited Malcolm Battles to shore up the post. But in the post-heavy conference, it seemed that UNM had little chance of stopping the marquee big men of the Mountain West with only freshmen Patrick Dennehy and Alvin Broussard and small forward Wayland White to help neutralize them.
When the University of Wyoming trio of big men, Josh Davis, Marcus Bailey and Uche Nsonwu-Amadi, combined for 49 points during its win in the Pit earlier this year, it prompted UNM head coach Fran Fraschilla to say that defending the post was UNM’s “Achilles’ heel” and it would be something for the Lobos to shore up next year.
Well, if UNM’s inside play against the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Monday night was any indication, the future may be now for the embattled big men.
Dennehy, Broussard, White and Smith combined to hold UNLV center Kaspars Kambala to only five second-half points, after he had scored 15 in the first half, and pitched in a combined 27 points and 15 rebounds to back up the solid play of the UNM guards.
“I think the fun part was seeing three freshman on the floor quite a bit,” Fraschilla said. “But I thought the difference in the game was Wayland guarding Kambala, because he had very few touches in the last 20 minutes of that game.”
Kambala dominated the inside against UNM for the teams’ two meetings last year and though he only scored seven points in 11 minutes against UNM on Jan. 22, UNLV earned a 80-72 win, its third-straight against the Lobos. But White’s defense on Kambala gave the Lobos the upper hand Monday night.
“I think it was the key but everybody played good on defense,” White said. “Tonight, I just tried to do a good job on him and limit his touches because I knew that, if he got the ball, I would be in trouble.”
Kambala blamed his teammates for not getting him the ball while White was on him.
“I think that would have made it easier because he was fronting me a lot of the time,” Kambala said. “If the guards would have just reversed the ball to the front, I had him on my back. A lot of times they could have just passed the ball in, but they just didn’t do such a good job.”
Dennehy and Broussard both provided hustle plays that may have offered a glimpse of what they will offer for the next three years.
Dennehy had six rebounds and four points in 19 minutes, but his play above the rim gave UNM a boost.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
With less than four minutes gone and UNLV clinging to a 47-41 lead, Dennehy tipped in a Marlon Parmer miss to close the gap. Then with the game all but over, he hit a nifty baseline jumper over Kambala.
Against San Diego State Saturday, Dennehy pulled down nine rebounds, after which Fraschilla said he would be counting on the freshman against UNLV last night.
“Coach has been giving us a lot more positive criticism and negative criticism, and that’s helping us grow,” Dennehy said. “That’s what’s going to keep us going the next three years. This won’t be the end of you hearing about me and Alvin. We’re freshmen, we’re talented and we like to be on the floor together.”
Broussard’s two rebounds and three points belied the energy he displayed on the floor.
He stole a Vince Booker-to-Danny Brotherson pass, drove the length of the floor and slammed the ball, igniting the Pit crowd and giving the Lobos a 52-48 lead. After the game, Broussard shrugged the dunk off as “just playing.”
“Freshmen are going to have their nights and tonight we had a good night,” Broussard said. “We’ll have to continue doing it.”
Dennehy said he and Broussard are slowly developing an on-court rapport.
“We’re coming off the bench, and we’re freshman trying to get playing time,” Dennehy said. “We go at each other at practice every day, and our games have just been elevating as the season goes on.”
With key games against Colorado State University, Wyoming, Brigham Young University and the University of Utah — all teams with dominant post men — on the horizon for UNM, its inside play will likely determine its success. But with their last three wins, all convincing victories, the Lobos suddenly seem much taller somehow, as strong guard play has opened up the lane.
“We’ve been lacking size all year but we just keep playing hard,” White said. “What we don’t have in size, we make up for with heart.”
