Creighton heads to the great city of Albuquerque to take on the New Mexico Lobos Saturday night. Creighton escaped last season with a come-from-behind victory in the opening game at the Qwest Center. New Mexico had a 15-point lead with about 10 minutes left in the game when the Jays took flight for the win. P’Allen Stinnett and Booker Woodfox led the Bluejays to victory with 30 and 26 points respectively.
In the meantime, the Missouri Valley Conference and the Mountain West Conference got together to form the MVC-MWC Challenge. The conferences decided to take the return game to New Mexico as one of the games for the challenge this season. So far, the Valley is leading the series 3-2 with two more games happening this weekend and two more next weekend:
- Bradley lost to BYU
- Indiana St. defeated Colorado St.
- Missouri St. defeated Air Force
- Southern Illinois lost to UNLV
- Wichita St. defeated TCU
- Illinois St is at Utah on Saturday
- Creighton is at New Mexico on Saturday
- Drake is at San Diego St on December 22nd.
- Northern Iowa is at Wyoming on December 23rd.
In Albuquerque, Lobo madness is running wild, especially since they are ranked in this week’s poll.
In preparation for Saturday night’s showdown at The Pit, White & Blue Review took some time to talk to Protege1212, one of the moderators of The Lobo Lair, to get the lowdown on the Lobos and to get us familiar with this ranked team that is 11-0 to start the season. The Lobo Lair also has quite an active message board.
White & Blue Review: Last season, New Mexico opened the season in Omaha against the Bluejays. They got out to a nice big lead, but Creighton stormed back to take the game at the end. How did that affect the team last season and what impact will it have on the return game on Saturday?
The Lobo Lair: Tough to completely know how just one game affected the team, but it did come up often with fans, as a big “if” game in that one more quality win may have put us in the NCAA Tournament. I think last year’s team was very much a work in progress until the conference season, when things really came together.
As far as this year, the game can be seen as a little bit of a payback game for those guys who saw that lead slip away. Just as last year we do look to this game as one against a quality opponent which will be beneficial for strength of schedule come NCAA tourney time.
WBR: The Lobos lost their top three scorers from last season and almost look like a totally different team this season. Who are the players that have stepped up to lead this team to the success so far?
TLL: Biggest addition has been Darrington Hobson. He’s a junior college transfer who has a great deal of talent. He can run point, and battle down low. Dairese Gary was on last year’s squad and he is solid and getting better every game. The one who has really taken the leadership burden/role is Roman Martinez. He is not flashy, or overly athletic, but is quite simply the best player on the team. He does everything well on both sides of the court, and makes everyone on the team better. Don’t let the lack of flash fool though, the young man can light it up and play with anyone.
WBR: This is a young team with 9 players on the roster that are either freshman or sophomores. Creighton is a more veteran-laden team. What has been the key for the Lobo’s cohesive play?
TLL: Some might say a familiarity from some of the guys who played together on AAU squads, but more than that it is the ability of the coaching staff to build chemistry. The focus is constant; no one player is bigger than the team. One of the bigger weaknesses of some past teams was lack of cohesion. So far, this squad has demonstrated a willingness to share the ball, minutes, and praise. I think that translates a great deal to coaching.
WBR: As far as Coach Alford, how happy are Lobos backers with the job he’s done at NMU?
TLL: Fans are thrilled! The top 25 ranking of course is cause for happiness, but more than that the program is on track to be solid for years to come. Recruiting has the potential to be the best in school history, the Pit is under a needed renovation, and the team is playing a very exciting brand of basketball. Maybe more than anything is improvement on the road. For years we have typically been very weak away from home, but under Alford, the team has developed confidence on the road and has won more away games with him at the helm than any coach over the past 15 seasons.
WBR: The Lobos are one of the highest scoring teams in the nation, and they’ve made the sixth most 3-pointers in the nation so far this season. No one has shut them down yet, it seems, so what must the Bluejays do to be the first team to solve the Lobos’ offensive firepower?
TLL: Honestly I am not sure how easy it will be because the offense does flow that way and the team does have great shooters. Gary, McDonald, Hobson, Garth, Martinez, all play big minutes and are more than capable of knocking down multiple threes. Of the bench guys can hit the long ball too. Fortunately, the team has yet to shoot poorly from 3 this season. Having said that… I think a team that plays physical, shot challenging, man to man could hinder the outside game. Also, if a squad can disrupt the flow of motion and make shooters hurry shots it could become a long night. From our standpoint the hope would then be these same athletic guards would get to the rim with regularity if they faced that type of D.
WBR: How deep are the Lobos? How much do they rely on their bench? Who are key bench guys for Bluejays fans to focus on when they check into the game?
TLL: Very deep team, at positions 1 -4 and a little shorter bench at the 5. Alford has not shown a fear of going to the bench, minutes are spread very well. Jamal Fenton is a sparkplug type guard, who is young and at times a little out of control, but he scores in bunches, and can be a tough matchup because of his quickness.
WBR: What kind of weaknesses does New Mexico have that have not been exploited yet this season that the Bluejays could take advantage of?
TLL: The Lobos have shown a weakness at the free throw line. In fact, in stretches of games they may shoot better from the floor than the line. The more obvious weakness could be down low. To date A.J. Hardeman has been fantastic, but we have yet to face a team with two or three tall athletic bigs who could cause trouble underneath, in particular if there is foul trouble. Will Brown is very active and athletic, but beyond these two not much in the way of actual bigs to speak of. The guards and wings rebound well, and occasionally we have seen Alford go to a zone which we must rebound well out of or it could be trouble too.
One more point would be similar to the game last year that the team does need to develop a little more ability to close games. Being the third youngest team in the nation contributes to this some and a few games so far have ended closer than needed because of some let down as games close out.
WBR: What will the Lobos need to do to win the game Saturday? What are your final predictions?
TLL: They have to be tough and if they do run out to a quick lead need to hold it. The home crowd will provide a great lift as it always does. So far The Lobos have shot well, and played solid defense. If they follow this same formula and the Jays are unable to disrupt the offensive flow I think UNM takes this one. The Pit is worth a few points, a key will be our bigs staying out of foul trouble, but I think … UNM 83, Creighton 75.