Mountain West: Lobos perfect entering conference play

The New Mexico Lobos aren’t all that concerned about what has already happened this season.

“It’s a whole new season,” head coach Richard Pitino said.

The Lobos finished the non-conference portion of season at 12-0 and are the No. 1 team in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West men’s basketball rankings.

“I’m not going to act like 12-0 is not an accomplishment,” said Pitino, who went 13-19 last year in his first season as Lobos coach. “To be able to do that in Year Two speaks to the character in the locker room.”

New Mexico crushed Prairie View A&M last Tuesday, 94-63, as Jamal Mashburn had 17 points and Morris Udeze had 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Lobos also owned the boards, pulling down 64 rebounds (Prairie View A&M had 37) and enjoying a 22-8 edge in second chance points.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen 64 rebounds,” said Pitino, who has been an assistant or head coach since 2004, including one year as a head coach at Florida International and eight years as head coach at Minnesota.

New Mexico also had a school-record 14 blocks against Prairie View A&M, led by 6-foot-11 sophomore Birima Seck, who had three in nine minutes off the bench. Five other players each had two blocks as the Lobos moved to 12-0 for the fifth time in school history (first time since 2012-13).

The Mountain West will open conference play on Wednesday with five games, including No. 9 Colorado State (8-5) at New Mexico. Colorado State last week lost to USC in Phoenix, 73-64, despite getting 22 points from Patrick Cartier and 15 points and nine assists from Isaiah Stevens.

No. 2 UNLV (11-1) beat Southern Mississippi, 74-63, at home last Thursday as Elijah Harkless had 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Luis Rodriguez also had 18 points, seven rebounds (five threes) and four steals.

“I can’t put into words how happy I am for the way they responded after halftime,” Rebels coach Kevin Kruger said, referring to UNLV’s slim 33-32 deficit at the break.

Southern Miss did outscore UNLV in the paint, 32-22, and out-rebounded the Rebels, 46-39. UNLV, though, had 13 steals and enjoyed a comfortable edge at the line, going 24-of-33 to Southern Mississippi’s 11-of-15. UNLV also had 33 points off Southern Miss’ 25 turnovers.

“After that first loss (75-73 to San Francisco on Dec. 17) and having that feeling, which was new to this group, it carried on for a few days and that’s tough,” Kruger said.

UNLV will open league play Wednesday at No. 7 San Jose State (9-4). The Spartans beat Cal Poly, 65-43 last week at home in front of 1,233 fans.

“When we are talking and bouncing around and getting great activity, we’ve shown we can be elite,” said Kruger of his Rebels.

No. 3 Utah State (11-2) was upset at home last Monday, 75-72, by in-state rival Weber State despite leading 43-29 at halftime. The Aggies, though, responded by going to Hawaii later in the week and beating Seattle, 84-56, on Thursday, losing to SMU on Friday, 77-74, and beating Washington State, 82-73, on Christmas Day.

Steve Ashworth had 16 points against Weber State, 17 points against Seattle and 15 against SMU. Seven Aggies had between 9-12 points against Washington State.

The loss to Weber State, though, handed Utah State its first loss of the season. Weber State scored 26 of the first 32 points in the second half.

“Obviously our guys are kicking themselves,” said Utah State coach Ryan Odom after the loss to Weber State. “We realize we have to play better. But we also understand we’ve now gotten a third of the way through the season and the guys are off to a good start.”

No. 4 San Diego State (9-3) dominated UC San Diego, 62-46, at home last week as Darrion Trammell had 18 points and four threes. The 5-10 Trammell, in his first season at San Diego State after two years at Seattle, is averaging 13.2 points a game.

The Aztecs will host No. 8 Air Force (9-4) on Wednesday. Air Force got by Northern Colorado, 67-65, last Tuesday in Greeley, Colo., as Jake Heidbreder scored 17 points.

No. 5 Boise State (10-3) lost to Santa Clara, 73-58, without starting guard Marcus Shaver, who sat out the game. Boise State led 36-34 at halftime but then missed 6-of-7 threes in the second half.

The 6-2 Shaver, who could return Wednesday night at Lawlor Events Center on the road at No. 6 Nevada (10-3), has averaged 14.8 points, 4.2 assists, 2.5 steals and 7.7 rebounds in 10 games this year.

“We just got worn down a little bit,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said after the loss to Santa Clara. “We played great in the first half and we were sharp. But we just ran out of gas. They (Santa Clara) just had more energy than we did in the second half.”

Santa Clara has now won 5-of-6 games against Boise State in the rivalry.

“I have competitive, tough guys,” Rice said. “We don’t like losing. We’ll come back and we’ll get after it. I’m not going to focus on one game because you are not going to play all your games at an A-plus level. And it takes an A-plus game to win at Santa Clara.”

Nevada rolled over Norfolk State, 78-66, last Wednesday at home as Will Baker had 23 points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes.

No. 10 Wyoming (5-7) lost at Saint Mary’s, 66-54, last Wednesday in Phoenix. Noah Reynolds had 21 points to lead the Cowboys, who missed 11-of-14 threes and committed 19 turnovers.

Wyoming will open league play on Wednesday at No. 11 Fresno State (4-7). The Bulldogs beat Bakersfield on the road last Tuesday, 56-48, behind 17 points and eight assists from Isaiah Hill. Anthony Holland also had 12 points on four threes.

The Nevada Appeal’s Mountain West men’s basketball rankings for the week of Dec. 26:

1. NEW MEXICO (12-0, 0-0): Last week: New Mexico 94, Prairie View A&M 63 (Dec. 20). This week: Colorado State at New Mexico (Wednesday); New Mexico at Wyoming (Saturday).

2. UNLV (11-1, 0-0): Last week: UNLV 74, Southern Mississippi 63 (Dec. 22). This week: UNLV at San Jose State (Wednesday); San Diego State at UNLV (Saturday).

3. UTAH STATE (11-2, 0-0): Last week: Weber State 75, Utah State 72 (Dec. 19), Utah State 84, Seattle 56 (Dec. 22), SMU 77, Utah State 74 (Dec. 23), Utah State 82, Washington State 73 (Dec. 25). This week: Fresno State at Utah State (Saturday).

4. SAN DIEGO STATE (9-3, 0-0): Last week: San Diego State 62, UC San Diego 46 (Dec. 20). This week: San Diego State at UNLV (Saturday).

5. BOISE STATE (10-3, 0-0): Last week: Santa Clara 73, Boise State 58 (Dec. 22). This week: Boise State at Nevada (Wednesday).

6. NEVADA (10-3, 0-0): Last week: Nevada 78, Norfolk State 66 (Dec. 21). This week: Boise State at Nevada (Wednesday); Nevada at Air Force (Saturday).

7. SAN JOSE STATE (9-4, 0-0): Last week: San Jose State 65, Cal Poly 43 (Dec. 20). This week: UNLV at San Jose State (Wednesday); San Jose State at Colorado State (Saturday).

8. AIR FORCE (9-4, 0-0): Last week: Air Force 67, Northern Colorado 65 (Dec. 20). This week: Nevada at Air Force (Saturday).

9. COLORADO STATE (8-5, 0-0): Last week: USC 73, Colorado State 64 (Dec. 21). This week: Colorado State at New Mexico (Wednesday); San Jose State at Colorado State (Saturday).

10. WYOMING (5-7, 0-0): Last week: Saint Mary’s 66, Wyoming 54 (Dec. 21). This week: Wyoming at Fresno State (Wednesday); New Mexico at Wyoming (Saturday).

11. FRESNO STATE (4-7, 0-0): Last week: Fresno State 56, Bakersfield 48 (Dec. 20). This week: Wyoming at Fresno State (Wednesday); Fresno State at Utah State (Saturday).