The last time the New Mexico and Colorado State met, the Rams were ranked and had an unblemished record. The Lobos changed both of these stats after a 66-53 romp in WisePies Arena.
Since that victory, UNM has struggled winning close games and enters today contest on a two-game losing streak. The Rams have also seen its ups-and-downs this season, too.
Head coach Craig Neal was not available to the media before the team left for Colorado.
UNM (14-9, 6-5 Mountain West) threw multiple different defenses at the Rams the last time out and apparently it worked. They switched between a 2-3 zone and a man-to-man defense that worked effectively.
The Lobos held the Rams to just 24 percent (6-25 3FG) from behind the 3-point arc and just 32.7 percent (18-55 FG) from the floor overall.
Freshman Sam Logwood had a breakout performance against the ranked Rams back in January. He had a career-high 15 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting. He broke his career high three games later against Air Force, scoring 17 points.
Senior Hugh Greenwood has improved his 3-point shooting since conference play began. He is averaging 3.0 3-pointers per game in league play, which leads the Mountain West.
Entering Tuesday’s matchup, 60.2 percent of Greenwood’s scoring this year has come from 3-point range, according to Matt Ensor, UNM men’s basketball sports information director.
Greenwood is the only Lobo averaging double-digit scoring in league play with 12.7 points per game and a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game over the last 11 games. Senior Deshawn Delaney is right behind Greenwood, averaging 9.8 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game in league play.
CSU is coming off of an 83-82 win against UNLV in Moby Arena while the Lobos are coming off of a 63-60 heartbreaker against Utah State. With these results, the Mountain West Conference is the tightest race in recent memories.
The MWC has three teams within a half a game of each other for first place with Wyoming and San Diego State atop the conference. Along with these two teams, there are seven others within two games of first place with four weeks remaining in conference play.
CSU (20-4, 7-4 Mountain West) rode a 15-game winning streak heading into The Pit earlier this year. The Rams are 5-4 since this loss.
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The Rams are led by senior forward J.J. Avila who is averaging 15.6 points per game and 17.1 points per game in conference play. He is also averaging 8.3 rebounds per game.
The Lobos held Avila to a mere six points and four rebounds earlier this season, his lowest point total on the season.
Kyle Tomasi is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @KyTo22.
Men’s basketball vs. Colorado State
Tuesday
9:00 p.m.
Moby Arena, Fort Collins, CO
TV: ESPNU
