Yet, watching tonight’s game as a fan I was
satisfied that
the Lobos went on the road and had a pair of good looks at the hoop to
end
tonight’s game in the Thomas & Mack with a 60-58 MWC season opening
loss.
Daniel Faris Dominates Down Low!
The
Lobos made it very clear early that they weren’t
intimidated by the 1st place media chosen UNLV Runnin’
Rebels as
they jumped out on a quick lead led by big man Daniel Faris who at one
point
just couldn’t miss! Faris ended the night leading all scorers with 19
points as
he was the offensive force down low with a lethal combination of left
handed
hooks, turn around jumpers, and sweet dunk off of a nice pass from Nate
Garth.
Speaking
of Nate Garth, how about the development of this
young man as starting PG Dairese Gary found himself in early foul
trouble once
again. In steps in Garth and while I can’t honestly say that Nate had
the
perfect game there was once again plenty to build upon as Nate finished
the
night with 9 points and 3 boards, and 4 assists. However, Nate had his
“freshmen moments” as well, as he stepped up and knocked down a key 3
pointer
followed up by a pair of missed free throws. The two palming calls hurt
UNM as
well as on the negative side Nate ended up with 4 turnovers.
#11 Nate Garth
Now
Nate Garth wasn’t the only player that turned over the
ball as the game was played at a frenetic pace as UNM finished the game
shooting 40.4% to UNLV’s 35.8%, both team missing open bunnies, as well
as
nasty free throw shooting…
Some
may have felt that UNLV was ‘flat’. And with leader
Wink Adams still in obvious pain there may be some truth to that.
However, I
think the Lobo defense had something to do with that as well as UNLV
found
themselves in a dogfight from minute one.
Ultimately it was the Lobos lack of offensive punch down the
stretch that spelled doom for UNM as the Lobos with 4:09 on the clock
did not
score until Soph. Jonathan Wills nailed a 3 pointer. That is nearly 4
minutes
without a score that had 3 missed free throws, 1 missed 3 pointer, 2
missed layups,
and a pair of missed tip in opportunities. That folks should have been
your
game, but it wasn’t!
As
UNLV wasn’t playing much better, the Lobos were forced to
foul to extend the game in hopes their 3 point shooters could get hot
and the
Rebels’ obliged the Lobos missing their free throws and giving the
Lobos the
rock with :08 seconds left.
Chad Toppert
Dairese Gary
drove the ball down the sideline and was
able to kick the ball off to Chad Toppert who had a wide open look.
Toppert
took the shot after a slight hesitation and the shot bounced high off
the iron.
Senior Tony Danridge had not one, but two solid attempts at a tip in
for the
tie, but it just didn’t happen and the Lobos have to take the ride home
from
Las Vegas thinking about what could have been as they prepare for UTEP…
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