Like true wolves, the Lobos surrounded Missouri State early in the game on Saturday, and kept their prey down for a 76-60 victory.
UNM came out firing, hitting four early 3-pointers en route to a 20-4 lead, with 11:52 remaining in the first half. The Lobos never trailed in the game.
“I thought we really came out with a lot of urgency and intensity,” head coach Steve Alford said. “Our defense is getting better. I thought we did a really good job taking them out of their stuff.”
Missouri State hit only two shots in the first 10 minutes as UNM’s defense swarmed and caused seven turnovers during that time span.
UNM’s biggest lead was 33-9, which came at 6:35 left in the first half, and the Lobos led at halftime 39-23.
MSU tried to mount a comeback in the second half, cutting the deficit down to 12 points multiple times, but UNM stayed strong and didn’t let the lead dip to single digits.
“We were really hot in the first half; we were making shots and getting stops defensively,” said freshman guard Hugh Greenwood. “The second half, they were scoring and it kind-of took our rhythm away. Defense is a priority and we kind of let that slip in the second half.”
The best chance for the Bears to make it a game came with 2:16 left, as Missouri State’s Corey Copeland had a layup on a fast break opportunity to cut the lead to 10 points, but missed it.
After the miss, sophomore guard Demetrius Walker delivered the final blow with an old-school 3-point play as he was fouled on a layup with 1:48 left in the game.
The Bears never reared again, and the Lobos went on to win by 16 points to boost their record to 6-2, while MSU fell to 4-2. The win was the fourth-straight for UNM.
Four Lobos had double-digit points, with sophomore guard Kendall Williams leading all scorers with 19 (a career high), Walker with 16, sophomore guard Tony Snell with 12, and Greenwood with 11.
Alford said Williams played well, not only by scoring points, but by doing a little bit of everything else.
“I thought Kendall was really good,” Alford said. “Kendall is very active and very hard to guard. His stat line is all over the place as far as numbers; he rebounded and got assists he did a lot of good things.”
Three-pointers helped UNM early as team members made seven of their first nine attempts, to make 10-22 for the game, while MSU only made 5-25.
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The major advantage for the Lobos, however, was from the free-throw line as they outshot the Bears 35-5. UNM made 24 while Missouri State only made 3.
Limiting the opponent’s free-throw attempts has been a key improvement from the beginning of the season, Alford said.
“We’ve had two games in a row that our opponents have shot a total of 10 free throws,” Alford said. “Our defense has come a long way in a month because four weeks ago teams were shooting 30 free-throws against us.”
Williams said the defense has been exceptional in the past couple of games and that the experience the Lobos have been picking up has also helped.
“Our defense looks real good; that’s how we’ve gotten off to good starts these past games,” Williams said. “We’re just learning.
We’re still a young team and I think the experience is picking up a lot and it’s showing in our performances.”
