ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – For the second time this season, the UNM men’s basketball team has slipped out of the AP Top 25 basketball poll after a week that saw them win a game and lose one. The Lobos were the 25th-ranked team in the country when they lost by three points to Nevada in double overtime last week.
With other metrics being used these days to boost a team’s profile for the NCAA Tournament, the Lobos don’t make a big deal of being in or out of the AP Poll. “The bottom line is with the new stuff that we can all look at – whether it be Kenpom, all these things – that’s just becoming less and less relevant, but I know fans care about it,” said Lobos Head Coach Richard Pitino.
The Lobos, at 19-3 and 6-3 in the Mountain West, are on the road Wednesday to face a Utah State team that leads the nation in three-point shooting percentage. The Aggies make close to 42% of their three-point attempts. “We’re definitely going to have to be on our toes the entire game because playing against a team like that, a 12-point lead can turn into a tied game in two minutes,” said UNM forward Josiah Allick. The game has an 8:30 p.m. start time in Logan, Utah Wednesday and will be broadcast on FS1.
In other sports news, the Lobo women’s basketball team will host Mountain West leader UNLV Thursday at 7 p.m. in The Pit. The Lobo women are coming off a 38-point blowout of Utah State. The Lobos made 16 three-point shots in the game played over the weekend. LaTascya Duff scored half of the long shots on her way to 30 points.
D’Shaun Vinyard is averaging over 18 points per game for the Magdalena Steers. It has helped the back-to-back champions of Class 1A basketball jump out to a 20-0 start. It has also helped Vinyard to be included in a pool of players considered the best at small schools all over the country. Scoreboard Live is asking fans to vote for who they feel is the best.
Sandia high’s Steven West is the Gatorade New Mexico Boys Cross Country Player of the Year. West is the first from Sandia high school to ever receive the cross-country honor.
