Although it's early in the UNM men's basketball season, the team took a devastating loss Monday night in The Pit, falling to the University of Portland 77-71.
A combination of a complacent second half performance, mixed with the outstanding shooting of Portland guard Casey Frandsen, gave the Lobos their first loss of the year. It was a tale of two halves as Portland, 3-1, got the last laugh.
"I thought they outplayed us really in every category in the first half," head coach Michael Holton said. "In the second half, it was reversed."
PU shot 65.2 percent from the floor in the second half, including seven of 11 from 3-point range. The Lobos, 2-1, had no answer as they watched a nine-point second half lead dissipate into a six-point defeat.
Frandsen led Portland's second half charge, scoring a game-high 23 points including making six of eight from behind the arc.
"You can't coach that. You recruit that kind of player," Holton said. "Casey's made a lot of big shots for us. He's our leading scorer from a year ago. We expected a big game from him tonight."
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After playing an unselfish first half, the Lobos went into the locker room with a 34-29 advantage. After an Alfred Neale dunk and a baby hook by David Chiotti early in the second period, the Lobos built a 47-39 lead. UNM then went stale on both ends of the floor.
"We just didn't have the defensive presence, I mean they shot 60 something from the floor," Chiotti said. "It's hard to win ball games when a team shoots that well, especially on your home floor."
Portland went on a 29-12 run over the next 10 minutes to build a 68-59 lead with just over three minutes remaining. UNM had no answer to the patient, deft shooters of Portland. UNM made a furious comeback, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
The Pilots hit 11 of their last 13 free throws to seal the deal.
The Lobos, who held their first two opponents to a combined 32.1 percent shooting from the floor, watched PU scorch the nets to the tune of 55.1 percent.
The Lobos had four players in double digits. Neale scored 22 points and had 13 rebounds. Chiotti contributed 19 points, while Javin Tindall added 13 points and six assists. Freshman Lenny Miles added 10 points in his first start of the season.
Lobo starters accounted for all of the team's points.
