Jordan Hunter, on a 4-for-4 shooting night from beyond the arc, put UNM over the 100 point mark in the Lobos’ dominating 113-57 win over Western New Mexico in an exhibition match at WisePies Arena on Wednesday.
The Mustangs started the game off with a 2-pointer from Guard Eddie Giron. But Hunter quickly capitalized on the Lobos’ first scoring drive with a trey to put them ahead 3-2 a minute into the game. From there, the Lobos never looked back.
After the Hunter 3-pointer put the Lobos up, the lead only increased from there. At the half, New Mexico had built a huge advantage and led 59-27.
Coach Neal said that Hunter approached Wednesday's game in a way he hasn't seen before.
“Jordan Hunter played at a higher pace than I've even seen him play in practice,” Neal said about Hunter. “But he's a really good player.”
Forward Tim Williams also had a lot of praise for his point guard.
“I liked the way Jordan came out,” Williams said. “I just talked to him in the hallway and said he has to play with that confidence no matter who we're playing.”
In the beginning of the second half, the Lobos still didn't slow down. Williams scored the Lobos first four points — both shots coming off layups. Midway through the second half, after a media timeout was called at the 11:42 mark, the Lobos led 81-37.
The Lobos rotated three point guards, all of whom had good performances Wednesday night, but the head coach stated that their best contribution to the team came from a defensive standpoint.
“I thought they did a nice job of getting the ball to people,” Neal said. “I think they can be a problem defensively for people, because they’ve got good athletic ability and they're quick.”
Even with the absence of arguably the Lobos’ best player, guard Elijah Brown, Dane Kuiper gelled well with the other four returning Lobo starters — Hunter, Sam Logwood, Williams and Obij Aget. Kuiper scored seven points on 3-of-11 shooting, with three of the misses coming from behind the arc.
Freshman Damien Jefferson, a guard/forward for the Lobos, came off the bench and scored 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting and 5-of-8 from the charity stripe for his team as well as logging 20 minutes — both game-highs for the Lobos.
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Forward Tim Williams had a big night for the Lobos too, scoring 13 points while going 6-of-7 from the field and making 1-of-3 free throw attempts.
Two other Lobos joined Jefferson, Williams and Hunter in scoring double digits. Obij Aget scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting as well as going 2-of-2 from the free throw line, and Connor MacDougall scored 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting as well as going 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
As a team, the Lobos shot 41-of-79 (51.9%) from the field, and 8-of-22 (36.4%) from behind the arc. From the free throw line, as a team the Lobos shot 23-of-33 (69.7%).
All 13 Lobos who suited up for Wednesday night’s game saw playing time and each scored the ball as well.. The Lobos only turned the ball over nine times compared to the Mustangs’ 21 turnovers.
For Williams, getting the opportunity to play a new team was a good learning experience for his team. He gave his team a “B-minus” on his team's overall performance.
“We’re excited to play guys in different jerseys,” said Williams. “I think we did a lot of things good, but we got sloppy a little bit. We made a few mental mistakes, and just little things we can't do as the season goes along.”
Head coach Craig Neal complimented his team on their win Wednesday night, stating that his team did well overall.
“I thought it was good to get our guys in front of another team, different color jerseys, get 5 of our newcomers out on the floor,” Neal said. “All in all, I thought really good effort. I thought they did everything I asked them to do, so hopefully we’ll continue to get better tomorrow and get ready for Friday's exhibition.”
The Lobos play another exhibition game against Eastern New Mexico on Friday night at 7 p.m. at WisePies Arena — the last exhibition match of the season.
Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's basketball. He can be reached on Twitter @matt_narvaiz or at sports@dailylobo.com.
