Although every game is important, rivalry games always seem to bring out a little extra fire.
New Mexico State is coming to Albuquerque on Friday for the first Rio Grande Rivalry game of the season. The match will be at WisePies Arena, and tips off at 7 p.m. The teams won’t meet again until Dec. 10 in Las Cruces.
The Lobos swept the series with their in-state rivals during the 2015-2016 season. The first win came on Nov. 15, 2015 at the Pan American Center, much to the chagrin of Aggie mascot Pistol Pete. UNM won 83-74, with Elijah Brown recording 31 points on 8-for-17 shooting.
The Lobos’ second victory was on Dec. 16, 2015 with a big point differential, taking down the Aggies 79-61. Brown found himself leading the team once again, this time with 20 points and shooting 7-for-14.
The Aggies opened up its 2016-2017 season with a win, dominating the Arizona Christian Firestorm 100-52. It was the first time since the 2011-2012 season that the Aggies scored 100 or more points in a game.
It was also NMSU head coach Paul Weir’s first win at the Division I level. Weir took over the coaching duties for NMSU’s basketball team back in April. UNM head coach Craig Neal says he knows Weir personally, which should make Friday’s game even more interesting.
“He was an eager kid when we first met him,” Neal said. “Now he is not a kid. He is a fine young man and he is going to be an excellent coach. I’m just glad he got the opportunity to be a head coach.”
But Weir didn’t get a lot of time to celebrate his first win. After the convincing first win, the Aggies were tripped up in a close road game on Sunday.
NMSU (2-1) fell to Colorado State 64-61. Guard Ian Baker led his team with 16 points shooting 6-for-19. Forward Eli Chuha followed with 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting. The Aggies then made a rebound for a 58-48 win over Samford Wednesday night.
UNM is currently 2-0. The Lobos took down the Idaho State Bengals 81-70 during their season opener and collected a 95-79 win over the Houston Baptist Huskies Monday night.
Neal said he liked what he saw from his team, especially in the first half, during the match against the Huskies, as the Lobos maintained a double-digit lead for most of the night.
Forward Tim Williams led the team after scoring a career-high of 31 points in the 33 minutes he played.
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But Neal said he thinks the Aggies also have several talented players who are good at shooting, so defense will remain the big focus for the Lobos. He said the team will need to play disciplined ball and try to create turnovers, contest shots and have active hands without reaching.
“Concentrating is a big thing on defense….it doesn’t really change with who we play or how many people we play because the way we play defense,” Neal said. “Everybody has to be doing their job.”
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.
