New Mexico Lobos have lofty goals in tourney
Unranked in the preseason and picked as a middle-of-the-pack team in the Mountain West, New Mexico instead finds itself a three-seed in the Big Dance. Steve Alford's Lobos will partner up with Montana in the opening round tonight at HP Pavilion in San Jose. New Mexico will lean on star Darington Hobson to get past a Grizzlies bunch that staged a huge second-half rally to beat Weber State in their conference tourney.
It was a disappointing loss in the Mountain West semifinals. But don't think Steve Alford and the Lobos are letting that get them down as they prepare for first round action as the No. 3 seed in the East Region on Thursday night.
This has been anything but a disappointing season for New Mexico. Picked to finish in the middle of the MWC pack, the Lobos (29-4, 18-13-1 ATS) proved the pundits very wrong by capturing the regular season title with a 14-2 mark and finishing No. 8 in the AP poll, 10th on the coaches list.
New Mexico now has high hopes of reaching at least the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. The Lobos are playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time, making their first appearance since 2005.
Their opponents will be the Montana Grizzlies, seeded 14th as the Big Sky Champions. The line opened offshore with the Lobos favored by nine, 8 ½ available at some shops. Thursday's 'total' is 134-135 depending where you buy.
Alford's bunch shot from the gate with 12 consecutive wins before stumbling Dec. 23 at Oral Roberts, 75-66. The game didn't even draw a spread.
The Lobos would lose just three more times the rest of the way, once to UNLV and twice to San Diego State. Both of those schools joined New Mexico and BYU to give the Mountain West four entries into this year's dance.
The second loss to San Diego State came in the conference semis in Vegas last weekend. Favored by two, New Mexico fell to the Aztecs by three, 72-69. The Aztecs also covered a four-point line when the two schools met in San Diego in early January. SDSU won that contest, 74-64.
The one thing both losses had in common was SDSU's ability to keep Lobos star Darington Hobson off the scoreboard. The JuCo transfer scored 12 in the first loss, on 4-of-17 shooting, and 15 in the conference tourney defeat. Hobson averaged over 16 per game throughout the season, and he will be counted on heavily if New Mexico is indeed going to catch a ride into the Sweet 16 any beyond.
In addition to leading the Lobos in scoring, Hobson is the team leader in rebounds (9.2) and assists (4.6). As Darington goes, so go the chances for New Mexico.
The Grizzlies (22-9, 17-11 ATS) are in their ninth NCAA Tournament, and first under fourth-year head coach Wayne Tinkle. Montana's last trip to the Dance was in 2006, the final season for the Grizzlies under Larry Krystkowiak. As a 12-seed in that tourney, the Grizzlies upset fifth-seeded and WAC champs Nevada in the opening round, 87-79, before falling to Boston College, 69-56.
Montana's appearance in this year's event is a most unlikely one. After finishing tied for third in the Big Sky regular season campaign, the Grizzlies faced Weber State in the tourney championship on March 10 and found themselves down by 20 at halftime. Senior guard Anthony Johnson then put the team on his back and led a furious second half rally.
Johnson scored 42 in the game, with 34 coming in the final 20 minutes when Montana outscored the Wildcats 46-25. Weber State carried a 3 ½-point chalk line into the contest, giving Montana its third consecutive cover.
Covering the spreads is something New Mexico failed to do down the stretch. The Lobos dropped five of their last six at the window as oddsmakers finally caught up to the team.
One thing oddsmakers didn't catch on to with either team late in the year was the number set for totals. Eight of Montana's final 10 games went above the expected scoreboard listing, with New Mexico making 'over' backers happy in its last five. The Lobos rank 33rd in the country with a 76.6 scoring average; the Grizzlies are a bit further back in the pack at 70.0 PPG.
Tip-off from HP Pavilion in San Jose is slated for about 9:45 p.m. (ET). This game follows the Marquette, Washington match, with the two winners meeting on Saturday.
Unranked in the preseason and picked as a middle-of-the-pack team in the Mountain West, New Mexico instead finds itself a three-seed in the Big Dance. Steve Alford's Lobos will partner up with Montana in the opening round tonight at HP Pavilion in San Jose. New Mexico will lean on star Darington Hobson to get past a Grizzlies bunch that staged a huge second-half rally to beat Weber State in their conference tourney.
It was a disappointing loss in the Mountain West semifinals. But don't think Steve Alford and the Lobos are letting that get them down as they prepare for first round action as the No. 3 seed in the East Region on Thursday night.
This has been anything but a disappointing season for New Mexico. Picked to finish in the middle of the MWC pack, the Lobos (29-4, 18-13-1 ATS) proved the pundits very wrong by capturing the regular season title with a 14-2 mark and finishing No. 8 in the AP poll, 10th on the coaches list.
New Mexico now has high hopes of reaching at least the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. The Lobos are playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time, making their first appearance since 2005.
Their opponents will be the Montana Grizzlies, seeded 14th as the Big Sky Champions. The line opened offshore with the Lobos favored by nine, 8 ½ available at some shops. Thursday's 'total' is 134-135 depending where you buy.
Alford's bunch shot from the gate with 12 consecutive wins before stumbling Dec. 23 at Oral Roberts, 75-66. The game didn't even draw a spread.
The Lobos would lose just three more times the rest of the way, once to UNLV and twice to San Diego State. Both of those schools joined New Mexico and BYU to give the Mountain West four entries into this year's dance.
The second loss to San Diego State came in the conference semis in Vegas last weekend. Favored by two, New Mexico fell to the Aztecs by three, 72-69. The Aztecs also covered a four-point line when the two schools met in San Diego in early January. SDSU won that contest, 74-64.
The one thing both losses had in common was SDSU's ability to keep Lobos star Darington Hobson off the scoreboard. The JuCo transfer scored 12 in the first loss, on 4-of-17 shooting, and 15 in the conference tourney defeat. Hobson averaged over 16 per game throughout the season, and he will be counted on heavily if New Mexico is indeed going to catch a ride into the Sweet 16 any beyond.
In addition to leading the Lobos in scoring, Hobson is the team leader in rebounds (9.2) and assists (4.6). As Darington goes, so go the chances for New Mexico.
The Grizzlies (22-9, 17-11 ATS) are in their ninth NCAA Tournament, and first under fourth-year head coach Wayne Tinkle. Montana's last trip to the Dance was in 2006, the final season for the Grizzlies under Larry Krystkowiak. As a 12-seed in that tourney, the Grizzlies upset fifth-seeded and WAC champs Nevada in the opening round, 87-79, before falling to Boston College, 69-56.
Montana's appearance in this year's event is a most unlikely one. After finishing tied for third in the Big Sky regular season campaign, the Grizzlies faced Weber State in the tourney championship on March 10 and found themselves down by 20 at halftime. Senior guard Anthony Johnson then put the team on his back and led a furious second half rally.
Johnson scored 42 in the game, with 34 coming in the final 20 minutes when Montana outscored the Wildcats 46-25. Weber State carried a 3 ½-point chalk line into the contest, giving Montana its third consecutive cover.
Covering the spreads is something New Mexico failed to do down the stretch. The Lobos dropped five of their last six at the window as oddsmakers finally caught up to the team.
One thing oddsmakers didn't catch on to with either team late in the year was the number set for totals. Eight of Montana's final 10 games went above the expected scoreboard listing, with New Mexico making 'over' backers happy in its last five. The Lobos rank 33rd in the country with a 76.6 scoring average; the Grizzlies are a bit further back in the pack at 70.0 PPG.
Tip-off from HP Pavilion in San Jose is slated for about 9:45 p.m. (ET). This game follows the Marquette, Washington match, with the two winners meeting on Saturday.