Sports Desk: Lobo men’s basketball has a date for season-opening series

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It has already been a season unlike any other. To have Lobo men’s basketball start play in December is the latest wrinkle.

The Lobos will start the season on the road at Boise State in a two-game series beginning Dec. 21. The second game will be played on Dec. 23. Both games were originally scheduled for Dec. 3-5. The Dec. 21 game will have a 7:00 p.m. tipoff and be broadcast on FS1. A time and broadcast information for the second game will be announced later. COVID-19 delayed the season for all of college basketball. The Lobos even had to relocate to Texas just to practice because of the state health orders for COVID-19 in New Mexico. The Lobo women’s basketball team started their season Friday at Midwestern State.

New Mexico State men’s basketball is at Santa Clara Saturday. The Aggies are a guard short with Jabbari Rice out. Rice had successful foot surgery Friday and is expected to miss up to eight weeks. “We already made mention of it that depth is not a strong suit for us right now,” said Jans. “Hopefully it will be later, but it’s not going to be for the next few weeks and we have to understand that. We’ve got to be careful. We’ve got to substitute properly. We’ve got to make sure that multiple guys know multiple positions.”

In other sports, the Lobo football team is hosting Wyoming in Las Vegas, Nevada Saturday. It is one of only two more opportunities the Lobos will have to avoid a winless season in Danny Gonzales’ first year on the job. The Lobos have been in a position to win, but have had trouble closing. “We fear success because when we’re in the lead we’re worried something is going to go wrong,” said Gonzales. “We fight our way back and they realize they can do it and either we run out of time or we shoot ourselves in the foot like we did on the third down. I think those are improvements, but we’re here to compete to win.”

The Lobos are on a 14-game losing streak dating back to last season. Game time Saturday is 8:30 p.m.

The Denver Broncos have quarterback Drew Lock back Sunday. The team is hoping Lock can prove that he is the franchise quarterback to help the 4-7 Broncos improve and move forward.

New Mexico United midfielder Juan Pablo Guzman has agreed to a new deal and will return to the team for a third season.

Jackson and Wink Academy has a new member in it’s ranks. Olympic gold medalist boxer Clarissa Shields has chosen the fight academy as a place to help her add mma to her combat resume.