New Mexico: Stevens: Lobos Look For 11th Straight Win With Houston Baptist

Jan. 2, 2012

New Mexico Lobos Men's Basketball - In The Pit

Tuesday: 7 p.m., Houston Baptist (5-8) at New Mexico Lobos (12-2)
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By Richard Stevens - Senior Writer/GoLobos.com

You probably can't blame the New Mexico Lobos if, after their impressive December run, there are visions of Mountain West Conference battles dancing in their 12-2 heads. Hey, the Mountain is pretty steep this season!

But wait! Bah, humbug!

The Lobos still have a couple of small bones to pull out of their teeth before they can start chewing on the tougher meat of the Mountain West. There also is a Scrooge, of sorts, on the Lobo coach staff - Steve Alford - when it comes to Lobos looking ahead.

But if Alford wants to get his Lobos' attention riveted on Houston Baptist, he only needs to toss out a couple of scores:

Santa Clara 79, Lobos 76
Houston Baptist 72, Santa Clara 71

Yep, the Huskies of Houston Baptist slapped down the team that slapped down the Lobos. That has to send some kind of message!

The Huskies rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat the Broncos. Santa Clara's Evan Roquemore, a 90 percent free-throw shooter, missed two foul shots with 1.9 seconds to play.

The Huskies also beat Cal State Fullerton 88-83 and also have been hammered by a couple of big boys. They lost at (then No. 24) Creighton 97-62, outrebounded by 20 and outscored at the line by 23 points. The Huskies lost 88-65 at Washington.

Most likely, the affair Tuesday night in The Pit will be a run-and-gun crowd- pleaser. The Huskies have scored 112 points and given up 118, 103 and 97 points.

The Huskies aren't big enough to pound the ball inside on most teams and they like the transition game. Most likely, they will be outmatched in The Pit, if they try to run with Alford's Lobos.

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But in case the Lobos are looking for a good way to attack the Huskies - and get into a high-scoring jaunt -- the example set by Duquesne (9-5) on New Year's Eve looks like a smart pattern: Go inside/attack the rim.

Duquesne pounded the Huskies 118-72 Saturday outscoring H-Baptist 60-34 in the paint. Duquesne also did at least two other things well that win a lot of games. It shot 58 percent from the field (8-17 from long) and went 22-of-34 from the free-throw line.

Actually, the Lobos have been following that pattern pretty well most of the season in running to ten straight wins. The Lobos haven't lost since that stumble to Santa Clara in the 76 Anaheim Classic.

The Lobos also are playing outstanding defense. That might be a focal point for the Lobos against Houston Baptist: limit the Huskies' offensive output. That defensive focus sometimes can be tough, if the game turns into an up-and-down, high-scoring road rally.

Houston Baptist is young and inexperienced, but the Huskies have some talent. The Huskies got 16 points and five boards vs. Duquesne from senior forward Terry Bembry. A freshman guard, Ronald March Jr., added 12 points. Houston Baptist's leading scorer, Art Bernardi (15.1), was held to single digits (9) in scoring for the first time in seven games.

The 6-9 Bernardi is good enough inside scoring to get UNM's Drew Gordon or A.J. Hardeman's attention. Bernardi, from Caxias do Sul, Brazil, is a transfer from New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs. Huskie Marcus Davis scored 30 vs. Dallas Christian.

HBU is coached by Ron Cottrell, in his 21st season at H-Baptist. His Huskies threw out a sour 5-26 year in 2010-11 with a 2-10 mark in the Great West Conference. Houston Baptist will join the Southland Conference in July, 2013. There is talk that Houston Baptist might even add football to its program.

The Huskies lost four starters and 76.7 percent of their scoring from last season. They were picked in the Great West's preseason poll to finish tied for last (5th) with Chicago State.

The Lobos conclude their non-conference schedule at 1:30 p.m., Saturday in The Pit vs. North Dakota. Houston Baptist also plays North Dakota (twice), a conference sister.

"It's important that we continue to show the concentration and focus that has got us to this point," said Alford. "The guys have done a great job so far and they continue to do all the little things that make them better as individuals and as a team.

"But we can't let up at this point. It's important that we finish this and enter into the conference with only two losses."

The Mountain West is looking pretty gnarly so far this season. First, there is no MWC men's team with a losing record drifting down from 15-2 UNLV to 8-5 TCU. Of course, the pre-conference scheduling usually helps produce this effect, but there are some nasty-looking teams in the Mountain.

The Lobos, the preseason pick to win the league, open up the Mountain West wars at Wyoming on Jan. 14. A few months ago, this opener didn't look too bad. But Wyoming has rolled out a 12-2 record that includes a 10-0 mark at home.

UNLV and San Diego State are ranked and the Vegas' Rebs open league wars on Jan. 14 at SDSU on NBC-TV.

The Lobos, coming off a 64-60 win over Saint Louis in The Pit, are paced in scoring by Tony Snell at 13.6. Drew Gordon has a double-double average with a 12.9 scoring effort and an 11.0 average on the boards. Kendall Williams is the other Lobo in double figures at 11.0. UNM scored 73.3 points a game and allows 57.6 points.

Source: http://www.bbstate.com/news/446304

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