Men's basketball: Team stays positive despite losing streak

The losses keep piling up for the New Mexico men’s basketball team, and head coach Craig Neal continues to point to the team’s youth as the cause.

Neal said that he is trying to stay as positive as he can with his young and inexperienced team, using the losses as motivation to get better.

“I’ve been sending the message out to the guys to be real positive,” Neal said. “We need to get back to doing the little things, trying to stay within the culture that we’ve built. I know we’ve been struggling and just trying to do the little things to get back on the winning way.”

For the first time since 2007 the Lobos have lost five straight games, all to conference opponents. UNM (14-12, 6-8 MW) has dropped six of its last seven games dating back to the Lobos’ last win against last-place San Jose State on Jan. 31.

Senior guard Hugh Greenwood has been the most consistent Lobo this year and will look to continue his recent hot streak. Greenwood leads the conference in 3-point field goals, averaging 2.9 per game during the Lobos’ last 14 games. He has connected on 61 of his 181 attempts (33.7 percent) this season, which accounts for 60.2 percent of his total scoring on the year.

The Lobos dropped the Runnin’ Rebels earlier this year by a score of 71-69 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Greenwood scored a game-high 22 points with a career-high six 3-pointers made.

For the first time in UNM history the Lobos will unveil pink uniforms in honor of Greenwood’s Pink Pack foundation. The special “Pink Pack” jerseys will feature pink letters and numbers instead of the usual cherry red. The Lobos will also wear special “Pink Pack” shooting shirts before the game.

The game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off in the north concourse during the first half with all proceeds going to Greenwood’s Pink Pack Foundation.

“It’s exciting. I’m looking forward to it,” Neal said. “It’s the first time we’ve ever done it. We’re all family, you know; we’ve been through a lot, and he (Greenwood has) has been through a lot.”

The Rebels (14-12, 5-8 Mountain West) are led by sophomore forward Christian Wood, who is averaging 15.5 points per game and 10 rebounds per game in conference play.

Kyle Tomasi is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @KyTo22.