UNM lived by the three-pointer throughout most of Saturday's game at The Pit but ultimately died when its outside shooting ran cold in a 76-68 loss to the University of California at Berkeley.
With the youth movement in place, the Lobos shot out to an early lead and appeared to be running away with the game. Three-pointers by junior Jamaal Williams and seniors Ruben Douglas and Senque Carey helped the Lobos jump out to a 19-9 edge in the first half.
Without the presence of an inside go-to-go guy, UNM struggled to maintain the lead.
Sophomore center Chad Bell came off the bench and was more effective than he had been in the preseason hitting a jump hook and both of his free throws while guiding the Lobos to 28-17 advantage.
The Bears were relentless though and as their defense tightened up, so did the Lobo shooters. After hitting six of its first 12 three's, UNM went cold from beyond the arc and would make only three of its next 20 from long range for the rest of the game.
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The Lobos were able to ride their early success to a 34-28 half-time lead but signs of a second half struggle were apparent.
Once again, UNM was able to come out of the locker room with renewed enthusiasm and hot shooting to gain the advantage. But the Lobos could not keep up the pace that gave them a 50-37 lead. Once again UNM's shots went cold as their 50-37 lead dwindled to nothing.
Douglas continued to pace UNM, scoring 26 points on nine of 23 shooting, but perhaps was relied on too exclusively. In all, he played 37 of the possible 40 minutes and that may have led to fatigue and the inability to get open looks at the basket.
"I've got to suck it up and play," Douglas said. "I think we lost the game in our turnover to assist ratio."
Junior point guard Javin Tindall also played extensive minutes but may have been hampered by a preseason ankle injury while making just two of 11 field goals for the game. Carey contributed six assists, but also had four turnovers while playing 36 minutes.
Fatigue could be pointed to in assessing UNM's late game demise. The Lobos had four players play at least 30 minutes.
"That's probably going to be a trade off when we play our small lineup," Head coach Ritchie Mckay said.
The front court was made thinner when forward David Chiotti committed three quick fouls in two minutes of play in the first half. He did not re-enter the game.
"It was his first game and I can remember how nervous I was playing my first game," Carey said.
Though the Lobos lost their home opener and Mckay's regular season debut, there are positives to look at. First of all, with all of the changes from last year's team they were still able to hang in there with a Pac-10 team for 40 minutes of basketball. UNM also proved that when it is hot, it is capable of big runs in a short amount of time.
If the Lobos can learn to play with maturity and do the little things correctly, they may someday be able to hold on in future games.
"It's early in the year and this is not a race, it's a marathon," Douglas said.
