Just because the Lobos won three straight games to move into second place in the Mountain West doesn’t mean the learning has stopped for coach Craig Neal’s squad.
Saturday’s 88-83 victory over Boise State, which put the Lobos just behind league leader San Diego State in the standings, was such a moment because, as Neal put it, it’s not really a learning experience until you do it. The team learned how to grab a big road victory against a top team, and Neal said it was important for his team.
“I think that's why they were so excited,” Neal said Monday. “I think they had heard the noise outside, the rumblings... I've tried to keep them away from most of that and I think they've done a good job with that.”
Since losing back-to-back contests to UNLV and Wyoming, the Lobos rattled off three victories, albeit two at the hands of the bottom of the league in Air Force and San jose State. The victory at Boise State, meanwhile, put UNM three games behind the Aztecs -- who are undefeated in conference -- with their first meeting this coming weekend.
Before then, however, UNM (13-8, 6-2 MW) must host a UNLV squad that beat the Lobos by nine points on Jan. 12. That game gave the Runnin’ Rebels their first conference win days after firing their coach and promoting Todd Simon to the interim head man.
Since then, UNLV (13-9, 4-5 MW) have won three games against Air Force, Utah State and Boise State but lost to in-state rival Nevada and San Diego State. The two setbacks were notably low-scoring affairs -- 65-63 to Nevada and 67-52 to SDSU -- for a team that likes to run.
Aside from giving the ball to 7-footer Stephen Zimmerman a bit more, Neal said he hasn’t seen much difference in style with Simon running the show. Yet the Runnin’ Rebels did show a lot of energy in their game against the Lobos, Neal added.
The same happened when UNLV beat Boise State, where the Rebels trailed by eight at the half but found a hot start in the last 20 minutes.
As expected, Neal’s focus will be on his team. He said he doesn’t have the time to watch enough UNLV tape to speak to that. But Neal said his team needs to come out better in the second half.
“We've gotten better at the first four minutes of games, but we've got to come out better in the second half,” Neal said. “That's one thing that's one of their strengths is that they're able to surge after half pretty good, but we'll find out tomorrow if they're able to surge in the second half at our place.”
UNLV will be without forward Ben Carter who, according to media reports, tore his ACL during Saturday’s game against UNLV. Carter scored 8.6 points per game in 22 UNLV games, starting in seven.
Neal called Carter a player who could do several things, whether it be score, rebound, or guard. The Lobos also recruited him heavily, he said.
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“I know I'm going to get havoc for that, but I think he's their best all-around player,” Neal said. “Is he their best talent? Is he their best talent guy or pro prospect or whatever you want to say? Probably not, but he's their glue guy and he does all the stuff.”
Leadership by committee
Guard Elijah Brown picked up the Mountain West player of the week honor, joining Cameron Bairstow, Drew Gordon, Alex Kirk and J.R. Giddens as Lobos who earned the award three times in a single season. He averaged 23.5 points last week, including 30 against Boise State, and shot 52.2 percent from the field.
Neal praised Brown for the accomplishment and said it was well deserved. At the same time, he added, don’t let his offensive firepower mean that he is automatically anointed team leader.
“You don't become the leader because you score all the points, but that's what everybody thinks,” the coach said. “That's not the way it works.”
It’s not something Neal is looking for, per se, but he said his team is continuing to grow with three sophomores in the starting lineup. Older players like Tim Williams and Obij Aget are not the most outspoken guys, either.
“I think it's by committee with our team and we don't have a Hugh Greenwood on our team,” Neal said. “Now will that happen? Yeah, I'm sure it will but right now I just think they're having fun and playing well.”
J.R. Oppenheim is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s basketball and women’s soccer. Contact him at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JROppenheim.
