Friday’s Lobo Howl was a friendly reminder that college basketball season is just around the corner.
But it was also a reminder that it’s time to get to work.
The UNM men’s and women’s basketball teams made its first 2016-2017 season appearance in front of 5,463 fans on Friday.
The men stepped on the court at 8 p.m., introducing five newcomers and 10 returning players. Among the veterans were Elijah Brown and Tim Williams, both of whom were All-Mountain West last year, and the only two returning players in the conference who averaged 16 points per game last season.
Another thing they have in common: the duo made it onto the 2016 preseason All-Mountain West team. Brown, who averaged 21.7 points per game last season, was also named the conference’s preseason Player of the Year.
Although a crowd favorite, fans didn’t get to see much of the 6-foot-4-inch guard during the Howl. Brown sat out most of the drills to nurse a hamstring injury. Head coach Craig Neal said Brown’s limited action was just a precaution.
The show still went on as planned, and other Lobos stepped up to entertain the spectators.
Sophomore guard Anthony Mathis won the three-point contest for the second year in a row. Later, junior guard/forward Sam Logwood took over the night’s dunk contest, throwing down a crowd-pleasing 360 slam.
Logwood is no stranger to fancy tricks, as he also won the dunk contest his freshman year in 2014. Unfortunately, he wasn’t available to discuss his dunking skills after the Howl was over.
In fact, none of the players or members of the coaching staff were made available to the media Friday night.
A statement was released via the team’s Twitter account. In the video, which is just over a minute long, Neal begins by thanking all of those who came out to support the teams.
“Lobo fans, just finished my 10th Howl and it couldn’t have been more exciting for me,” he says in the video. “Really enjoyed the fans that showed up tonight.”
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“Hopefully you guys will be excited about our team and rally around this group,” Neal goes on to say. “They are an exciting group of young men who play extremely hard and they are great people.”
WisePies Arena aka The Pit has been known to be an exciting venue to play in when filled with fans, and Neal seemed to be trying to keep it that way.
However, the number of fans who attended the Howl this year was significantly lower than those in previous years. Attendance has fallen each year — from 10,158 fans in 2013, to 7,213 in 2014 and 6,676 last year.
The decline coincides with the team’s level of success in specific years. The UNM men’s basketball team won the Mountain West Tournament in 2012, 2013 and 2014, becoming the first team to win it three years in a row.
But in the 2014-2015 season, the Lobos went 15-16 overall, 7-11 in conference. The following season saw improvements, but the Lobos finished 17-15, 10-8 MW and missed the NCAA Tournament both years.
During this year’s preseason press conference, Neal said he is aware that his team didn’t met the expectations of the fans and the program in the past two seasons, but the Lobos are working hard to change that.
New Mexico was picked to finish third in the MW preseason poll. The Lobos received three first-place votes and had a total of 249 points. San Diego State and Nevada were projected to finish one-two in the same poll.
The Lobos are scheduled to have their first exhibition match on Wednesday, Nov. 2 against Western New Mexico.
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men’s soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports @dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
