In a one-point game with 4:47 left in the first half, shades of 2010 seemed to come back to haunt the men’s basketball team.
Fifth-seeded UNM lost to fourth-seeded Louisville 59-56 in the third round of the NCAA tournament in Portland, Ore.
Two years ago, Lobo captain Dairese Gary suffered a torn ACL against BYU in the semifinals of the MWC tournament — Saturday, senior forward Drew Gordon went down with a similar injury after senior forward A.J. Hardeman fell on him.
Gordon said that when the injury happened he saw his life flash before his eyes.
“So when I was going up, he (Hardeman) was coming down and forced me back down and he fell kind of against my leg in an awkward position. I felt a couple of pops, but the doc checked it out and it was okay,” Gordon said.
Gordon returned minutes later and showed no ill effect as he finished with his nineteenth double-double of the season with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
The Lobos were knocked out of the round of 32 for the second time in three years and failed to make the Sweet 16 once again — a feat they have yet to accomplish.
The Lobos trailed by just one point at the intermission, but the Cardinals exploded offensively to take a commanding 15-point lead after a Chris Smith 3-pointer with 13:03 left in the game, taking the score to 44-29.
“We were just out of rhythm, out of sync offensively, I thought,” head coach Steve Alford said. “And then to start the second half, I think they really came at us and got some easy baskets, which we hadn’t given up in the first half.”
The Lobos slowly clawed back and cut the lead to two points with 1:36 left in the game after sophomore guard Demetrius Walker hit a 3-pointer from the baseline.
But Louisville’s Payton Siva closed out the show with his assist that led to a Gorgui Dieng dunk and two clutch free throws.
Siva was held in check for most of the game by the Lobos as he finished with six points and six assists.
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“I didn’t feel tonight Peyton was going to have a great game because of the way they (UNM) play the pick-and-roll,” Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. “At the end of the game when they needed stops, he made a great move. And he did something that he hasn’t done with us in two years, that pass he made to Gorgui, he came to a jump stop and made the play.”
Aside from Gordon, sophomore guard Kendall Williams was the only other Lobo in double figures, with 11 points off 5-of-11 shooting.
Sophomore guard Tony Snell had another subpar performance, making just 1-of-5 shots from the field for three points.
Louisville guard Russ Smith came off the bench and sparked the offense as he led the Cardinals with 17 points, making just five of 12 shots.
“When you coach Russ Smith, you have a nervous breakdown on every possession,” Pitino said. “He wasn’t shooting the three well. And to show you how dumb I am, I’m yelling, ‘Take it, Russ,’ but he always comes up big for us. When we struggle for points he’s always there. I’m real proud of him.”
The Cardinal bench outscored the Lobos’ bench 19-13.
UNM made 23-of-58 from the field for 39.7 percent. The Cardinals shot 45.8 percent from the field making 22-of-48.
Louisville controlled the glass as it rebounded UNM 34-23.
UNM was the lone member of the Mountain West Conference in the NCAA tournament to make the third round this season. UNLV, Colorado State and San Diego State all lost in the second round.
Seniors Phillip McDonald and Hardeman finished their careers with 102 wins at UNM, tying Marcos White for the winningest players in school history. Gordon also played his final game as a Lobo, breaking Tom King’s single-season record for rebounds. Gordon passed King’s 375 mark, to finish with 388 rebounds.
“(I am) very proud of these three young men,” Alford said. “They’ve had brilliant careers, Drew for a year and a half, and A.J. and Phillip for four years. All three of them (are) on pace to graduate. They’ve just been tremendous seniors.”
