Author: Zach

MW Tournament Quarterfinal: UNM Lobos vs. WYO Cowgirls

by Zach

Every Lobo game during the Mountain West Tournament I will be adding thoughts throughout/after the game in a blog post. This will be the first of this experiment, which should be fun to do. Let’s have fun.

Lobos have hit two threes already tonight, one by Flye and another by Bryan. If you read my preview I said the Lobos need to hit 10+ threes tonight.

There is a good sized crowd tonight for both Wyoming and New Mexico, should be a fun atmosphere all night.

3:06 1Q: Lobos 10 Wyoming 8. The pace so far tonight is in between what the Lobos and Cowgirls want, no decided advantage right now. The Lobos need to find Beynon and Nunn in the offense

There is The Microwave heating up with a 3. Madi Washington will be huge in this game.

Playing Nunn and AT together this game could be a game changer.

End of the first: Lobos 13 Wyoming 10. The first quarter was played at Wyoming pace but the Lobos end the quarter with a 3 point advantage.

Washington and AF are already putting their fingerprints on this game, and are trying to make me look smart.

Nunn starting to dominate the offensive glass, she has 6 points and 6 rebounds already tonight.

AT with another blocked shot, she is playing so well on defense.

4:12 2Q: Lobos 22 Wyoming 16. Nunn will have a 2 Free Throws after the media timeout, looking for her 7 and 8th point of the night to go along with 7 rebounds.

AT now has 5 points, 2 rebounds, 4 blocked shots. Thanks for making me look smart.

After playing at Wyoming’s pace in the first quarter the Lobos have been able to turn up the speed of the game with their defense and have outscored Wyoming 20-6 in the quarter.

This lead has been built with the Lobos defense.

Halftime: Lobos 33 Wyoming 18. Lobos were led by their defense and got 11 points and 8 rebounds from Nunn, 6 points from Washington and AT had a big first half with 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots.  To build a 15 point lead at the half against this Wyoming team is very impressive.

Lobos did a great job of limiting MW Player of the Year Liv Roberts impact, holding her to 4 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assists in the first half.

7:16 3Q: Lobos 33 Wyoming 25. Lobos have come out flat in the 3rd quarter and Wyoming has taken advantage and has started the half on a 7-0 run. Lobos need to find traction soon or this one could slip away.

4:49 3Q: Lobos 39 Wyoming 29. After getting the pace they way they like in the 2nd quarter the tide has turned in the 3rd as the Lobos have only scored 6 points so far this quarter. The tone of the game has shifted.

Wyoming has dominated the 3rd quarter so far outscoring the Lobos 20-9 with 2:16 left in the quarter.

End of 3 quarters: WYO 43 Lobos 42. Lobos lost their 15 points halftime lead and will have work to do to pull this one out. The Cowgirls won the third 25-9. The Lobo starters besides Nunn are 4 of 26 from the floor.

6:28 4Q: Wyoming 50 Lobos 45. Wyoming has outscored the Lobos 32-12 in the second half. The Lobos need to find a way to get Nunn the ball and turn the tide of the second half.

Lobos fall 69-66 and will wait for the fate to see if they will be playing more basketball. Lobos had great performances from Nunn, Washington and AT.

There will be questions that need to be asked about this game, the Lobos had their chances to win this game and have a golden opportunity to make it to the Championship game. I am surprised by the lack of minutes of AT in the second half and the inefficiency of Beynon, Buck, and Flye (combined 7 for 34). The game change in the third quarter when the Lobos shot 1 of 14 from the floor while Wyoming was 9 of 13 which lead to Wyoming turning a 15 deficit into a 1 point win.

Women’s Basketball MWC Tournament: UNM vs. Wyoming Preview

by Zach

The sixth-seeded Lobos (23-9) advanced to the quarterfinals of the MW Tournament with a dominating win against SJSU last night and will take on the third-seeded Wyoming Cowgirls tonight. In the two meetings during the regular season, the Cowgirls went 2-0 with an 11-point win in Wyoming and a 1-point win in The PIT. As we have seen in the past, it can be very difficult to beat a team three times in one year and this time it could help the Lobos. In the first two meetings, Wyoming was able to control the pace of play (both games they were in the 60s) and keep the Lobos from finding separation in either game. There are some adjustments that the Lobos will be looking to make, finding ways to take every single little advantage to position themselves with a birth in the semifinals on Wednesday.

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A Look at MW Men’s Basketball Head-to-Head Records

by Zach

We are hitting the home stretch for the 2017-2018 Mountain West Conference regular season, which means it is time to look at where teams are positioned to be seeded for the conference tournament. With the win at Boise State, Nevada has all but clinched the regular season title and the #1 seed for the tournament. Also, SJSU has already clinched the #11 seed, as they are 0-14 with 4 games left. Beyond those two, a few teams are already locked into a certain range of seeds, as Boise State is pretty much locked into the 2 or 3 seed, while Colorado State and Air Force are pretty much locked into the 9 or 10 seed.

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Men’s Basketball vs. Boise State: What’s at Stake

by Zach

The Lobos (12-12, 7-4) have a huge game Tuesday night against second-place Boise State (19-4, 9-2) at The PIT. The Lobos have positioned themselves well through 11 games of conference play, as they sit all alone in third place. During their first meeting in Boise, the Broncos jumped out to a huge lead in the first half, giving the Lobos only a small chance of winning the game. The interesting thing about the first game was that the Broncos didn’t hit a ton of three’s to claim their huge lead, instead relying almost fully on layups. It would not be a surprise to see them try to replicate that success tonight.

In my opinion, it is easy to see that Nevada and Boise State are the top two teams in the conference.That said, the group from 3-8 could end up in a lot of different ways. Because of that, there is a lot at stake for the Lobos tonight, with effects that could continue over the next few weeks.

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A Discussion About College Football

by Zach

The FBS Season wrapped up on Monday with Alabama beating Georgia, earning the Crimson Tide yet another National Championship. That is, unless you ask the folks out in Orlando, who believe the National Championship was decided the week before, when UCF finished their perfect season. That started us emailing back and forth about some of the flaws that we see in the sport, particularly in regard to how the playing field is tilted such that so-called Group of 5 schools, like UNM, have a nearly impossible path to even compete for the National Championship. Here is our discussion on the matter:

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MW Women’s Basketball Conference Preview

by Zach

The non-conference schedule is finished for the Lobos (12-1) and the second season, Mountain West play, begins on Tonight. The Lobos have started the season on fire with good wins over Marquette, Western Michigan, UTEP, NMSU (rivalry games x2), Lamar, Illinois and Navy. The only loss on the Lobos schedule was against a very good Oklahoma team when they were without Jaisa Nunn. After being picked 4th in the preseason poll, the Lobos have inserted themselves as the clear favorite to win the MW this season. Looking back at the preseason awards, the Lobos had the Preseason Player of the Year (Cherise Beynon), Newcomer of the Year (Tesha Buck), and Rookie of the Year (N’Dea Flye). All three players have a good shot of winning those awards, with Beynon’s most likely challengers being teammates in Nunn and Buck. You could make a case the Lobos have the 3 best players in the MW this season.

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Women’s Soccer: MW Championship Preview

by Zach

The Lobos (12-7-2) are in the Mountain West Championship Match tonight, after forcing two draws and ultimately advancing in the shoot-outs against FSU and SJSU. They will take on SDSU (11-7-2), who won their first match of the tournament in the Semifinals with a 1-0 win over BSU. So far during the tournament, the Lobos have had ups and downs, but in the end it is all smiles, having tied and advanced to the championship. For both teams, this match will be a win and advance to the NCAA Tournament, or lose and go home.

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Men’s Soccer vs. UAB Match Preview

by Zach

The Lobos (7-3-1, 2-1-1) look to extend their three-match win streak as they host UAB (3-4-3, 0-3-1) in a big C-USA match for the Lobos. After starting the season 0-2 with two road losses in Seattle, the Lobos have gone 7-1-1 over their last 9 matches. The only loss during this 9 match streak was a 1-0 loss to Kentucky, with the lone goal coming with seconds left in the first half on a penalty kick. The Lobos are playing at a high level right now and will be in the hunt for the C-USA regular season title. The key for the Lobos isn’t to worry about winning the title, but taking each match as an opportunity to earn the right to host NCAA Tournament matches. I mentioned this on Twitter, but the Lobos have the ability to win all the remaining matches on their schedule. If the Lobos go into the conference tournament with a 13-3-1, 12-4-1, or 12-3-2 record, they will be in the hunt for a top-16 seed.

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Women’s Soccer at Air Force Preview

by Zach

The Lobos (9-5, 4-2) make an important road trip to Colorado Springs this weekend to take on Air Force (6-4-1, 3-0-3) and Colorado College. The Lobos are tied for second place in the conference with  UNLV and Air Force, just one point behind SJSU with five matches remaining in the regular season. There is still a lot to be determined for the conference tournament and where the Lobos stand the race. For the second straight season, there will most likely be a team with a winning record that won’t make the tournament. The Lobos have played well this season, with only momentary lapses leading to their two conference losses. If the Lobos are able to go 2-0-0 this weekend, they should be a lock to make the tournament.

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Men’s Soccer vs. Kentucky

by Zach

The Lobos (4-2-0, 0-0-0) will be the final team in Conference USA to start conference play this season when they host #13 Kentucky (4-1-1, 1-0-0) Saturday night at the UNM Soccer Complex. After winning their last four matches while outscoring opponents 11-3, the Lobos look to have found their passing and attacking game, and it couldn’t come at a better time. This will be one of the most important games in conference play this year, as both sides figure to be in the conference title race. Over the past three years, the two teams have played four matches, with UK holding a 3-0-1 advantage. However, that record is a little misleading, given that each of the three wins were 1-0 matches. Look for the trend of low-scoring games in this matchup to continue, as both teams are defensive-minded sides.

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