The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team tipped the season off against the Nicholls State University Colonels on Monday, Nov. 4. The reigning Mountain West champs came into the game looking to start the season off right. They did just that, beat the Colonels 91-84 to start off the season 1-0.
It was obvious in the first half that the Lobos were a bit rusty to begin. They could barely shoot from the three-point line. The Lobos shot a horrendous 18.2% from three. With their three-point game off, the Lobos focused more on their inside game and let center Nelly Junior Joseph go to work down deep.
Junior Joseph was unstoppable down in the paint, dominating offensively whenever he got the ball. Helping him out was guard Donovan Dent, who chipped in on the offensive end as well. The Lobos’ defense also tightened up on the perimeter toward the end of the half.
With the Lobos starting to knock the rust off, they led 48-43 going into halftime.
Going into the second half, the Lobos had the plan set: to keep giving the ball to Junior Joseph. He continued his dominance down low, and everyone in the arena knew who the ball was going to on offense. The Lobos defended the perimeter the best they could, but Nicholls was hitting some tough shots, which kept the game close.
Even with Nicholls hitting the tough shots, it still couldn’t stop Junior Joseph. When they tried to double-team him down low, he would kick it out to the perimeter and the offense would find a flow from there. By the end of the game, the Lobos proved too much to handle as they walked away with the win.
Three Lobos had a double-double in the game with the standout one from Junior Joseph. He finished the game with 28 points and 16 rebounds. The other double-doubles came from Dent and Mustapha Amzil.
Despite the offense coming out a little shaky, Head Coach Richard Pitino said he is not worried about his offense and was pleased with the win.
“I would like us to make more threes, probably like to shoot a little less (threes),” Pitino said. “But we got a win. We beat a good team.”
The Lobos’ next game will be against UCLA, which is currently ranked 22nd in the NCAA. Pitino said he expects his team to be humble and get right back to work.
“I have a lot of respect for UCLA,” Pitino said. “They are one of the top brands in all of college basketball, and they have a lot of talented players. The expectations are for us to come back tomorrow, walk into this facility humbly, learn from the film and get back to work.”
Rodney Prunty is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @rprunty05
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