Isabel Gonzalez
@cisabelg
When the University of New Mexico men’s basketball schedule first came out, all fans’ eyes went to Jan. 5, the day the top-dog in the conference was scheduled to come to Albuquerque.
UNM is hosting the Wolf Pack this Saturday, the first time since Nevada’s impressive 25-point comeback in 2017.
NEXT GAME PREVIEW: @UNMLoboMBB tomorrow at 5pm PT pic.twitter.com/OnZSC3rYtS
— Nevada Basketball (@NevadaHoops) January 4, 2019
The teams have met 11 times, with the first meeting being during the 2012-13 season. The Lobos lead 6-5 in the all-time series, however, the Wolf Pack has won the last four encounters.
New Mexico has struggled this season and finished its non conference schedule at .500. But the Lobos won their Mountain West conference opener against Air Force on Jan. 2 and has returned to a winning overall record of 7-6.
The Lobos are the underdog and looking for the upset that could help them grab some confidence and turn their season around.
Scouting Nevada
Nevada is currently one of only four undefeated DI teams in the country and ranked No.5/6. The team’s 14-0 start this season has tied the record for best start in school history with the 1951-52 team.
Four players are averaging double digits with Caleb Martin leading the team with 19 points per game. The other three players are Jordan Caroline (18.4), Jazz Johnson (12.2) and Cody Martin (10.2).
Last time the Wolf Pack was at The Pit, Caroline put up 45 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and five blocks.
.@NevadaHoops has a lot of catching up to do but gotta give credit to Jordan Caroline, who has 32 points at the moment. pic.twitter.com/IR7eOjqzg1
— Isabel Gonzalez (@cisabelg) January 8, 2017
In December, right after the Wolf Pack defeated the then No. 20-Arizona State, Nevada head coach Eric Musselman spoke to the media about how his players are handling all the attention they have gotten since preseason.
“It’s not easy, there is pressure,” he said. “These guys have Twitter and whatever else they use. They hear all the noise. But they’ve done a great job preparing for each and every night.”
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