Pilots @ New Mexico (Sunday, Nov. 25 @ 5:00)

by Guest Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:32 am

Portland @ New Mexico
Sunday, Nov. 21 - 6:00 local (5:00 PST)
Albuquerque, N.M.

TV - Root Sports (Comcast 34/734)
Pilots Streaming Audio
Portland Radio - 800 AM
New Mexico Radio - 770 KKOB (Lobo Radio Network)

Rankings
AP Top 25: New Mexico received votes
USA Today Coaches Poll: New Mexico received votes
Sagarin: Portland 279, New Mexico 37 (through Friday's games)
Pomeroy: Portland 227, New Mexico 32 (through Friday's games)

Portland (2-2) - Season Stats
Nov. 10 - L, 82-51 @ Ohio
Nov. 15 - W, 51-48 vs. Idaho State
Nov. 18 - L, 83-64 @ Montana State
Nov. 21 - W, 81-60 vs. Portland State
Key Players - F Ryan Nicholas, G Kevin Bailey

New Mexico (5-0) - Season Stats
Nov. 13 - W, 86-51 vs. Davidson
Nov. 16 - W, 66-59 - Illinois-Chicago
Nov. 18 - W, 70-69 - George Mason
Nov. 19 - W, 66-60 - Connecticut
Nov. 23 - W, 73-58 vs. Idaho
Key Players - G Kendall Williams (#10), G Tony Snell (#21)

Portland Info
Preview
Game Notes

New Mexico Info
Preview
Game Notes

by Guest Fri Nov 23, 2012 10:06 am

Root Sports in Portland has the game. Comcast 34 or 734.

by Guest Fri Nov 23, 2012 10:23 am

Thanks...I added that to the original post.

by DoubleDipper Fri Nov 23, 2012 12:04 pm

A couple of interesting side-notes from Pomeroy....

1) So far, the Pilots have played the easiest schedule of all the WCC teams (that will quickly change with the UNM, UNLV, and UK games).

2) Pomeroy gives UP only a 6% chance of upsetting the Lobos...that’s about tiniest chance I’ve ever seen him give a team of pulling off and upset.

I lived in Albuquerque for almost five years while in the Air Force, and I can tell you one of the reasons Pomeroy gives UP so little chance is the atmosphere in The Pit. Rarified air and passionate fanatics make it a place you love to see the home team play...but it's just not a fun place for the visitors.

Naturally UP plays its toughest games on TV, so it’s rare we see them win, but I still like the experience and exposure it gives the program and the players.

by Guest Sat Nov 24, 2012 8:55 am

New Mexico beat Idaho 73-58 last night in Albuquerque.

Idaho was up by six five minutes into the second half......then didn't score for 10 minutes straight. That'll sink a team.

by DoubleDipper Sun Nov 25, 2012 12:07 pm

Pilots in The Pit this morning.....

Pilots @ New Mexico (Sunday, Nov. 25 @ 5:00) Pilots10

by Guest Sun Nov 25, 2012 2:16 pm

From golobos.com -

It was a late night of cramming for Lobo Coach Steve Alford and his staff as they tried to come up with a game plan for Sunday's 6 p.m. visit by Portland.

""It's quick. It's a quick turnaround," said Alford. "There won't be a lot of prep."

The Lobos put away Idaho on Friday and did a Cliff Notes' cram session Saturday on what to expect from Portland. One thing the Lobo coaching staff can pass on is that Alex Kirk and Cameron Bairstow will have a defensive challenge from Portland's Ryan Nicholas.

Nicholas, nicknamed Rhino, is Portland's top returning scorer and rebounder. He had a double-double at Ohio (16 points, 11 boards) and scored 22 against Idaho State. Portland's Rhino averaged 11.5 points and 7.6 boards last year.

Nicholas had 19 points and 14 rebounds last year in the regular-season finale at Brigham Young. He followed that effort with 24 points and 11 boards in the Pilots' WCC Tournament win over Santa Clara.

Yep, the Rhino can score, but can he score over the 7-foot Kirk and the rough-and-tumble Bairstow?

Nicholas comes into The Pit with a 14.3 average and is joined in double figures by Kevin Bailey with a 12.0 average.

The Pilots likely won't try to run with the Lobos in The Pit. They average 60 points per game, but did score 51 in a half after shooting 71 percent. Portland went on to an 81-60 win over Portland State.

Junior Guard Tanner Riley came off the bench to score 23 points on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting night from the field vs. Portland State.

Portland is coached by Eric Reveno, in his seventh season as a Pilot. Portland won 60 games from 2008 to 2011, but only won seven games last year. Portland returns three starters and 10 lettermen from last year's team that finished eighth in the WCC with a 3-13 league record.

by Guest Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:20 pm

Some really bad turnovers to start this game. Also, outside shooting is off. But energy looks good.

by **PilotNut** Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:24 pm

Energy looks good, agreed... we just need to make some shots and take care of the ball!

These UNM announcers leave a lot to be desired... yeesh.

by Guest Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:31 pm

Seem to be having problems getting into rebound position out of the zone defense.

by Geezaldinho Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:39 pm

I'm not going to be able to watch much more of this game, but the lessons of the last game might have sunk in a little. I am very encouraged, win or lose.

by **PilotNut** Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:40 pm

Pilots D is looking tough. Love it... we are looking at some foul trouble though.

by Guest Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:46 pm

Jeez, if only the Pilots could hit any threes. Most of them are bouncing off the bracket, not even close.

by Guest Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:53 pm

30 -27 New Mexico at the half.

by **PilotNut** Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:57 pm

30-27 Lobos at the half... Thieleke is having a great game so far, but ugly ugly shooting on both sides in the first half.

UP is shooting 33% from the field, 0-8 from 3, while UNM is shooting 24%, 1-12 from 3.

K Bailey has 3 fouls, and 2 each for Nicholas, van der Mars, Tanner Riley.

If we can keep up the D, and hit some shots....

by pilotram Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:59 pm

Hang tough Pilots...

by NoPoNeighbor Sun Nov 25, 2012 6:09 pm

We'd just better hope they don't start making some shots... Yikes. And what is the deal with Nicholas? In the last 2.5 games he's 5-24 from the field!

by Guest Sun Nov 25, 2012 6:12 pm

Terrible start to the 2nd half. Shooting is awful.

by NoPoNeighbor Sun Nov 25, 2012 6:59 pm

That was one of the worst offensive possessions I've ever seen. Three guys pass up open shots, then we miss a bad shot, get the offensive rebound, miss another shot and get called for an offensive foul.

by NoPoNeighbor Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:27 pm

Well, we played defense well enough to win, but our offense was ugly. 32.1% shooting. 1 for 10 on three-pointers. The 15 turnovers isn't terrible, but it isn't something to be proud of either. And a lot of those came at critical junctions, when we could have built some momentum with back-to-back buckets.

The biggest areas for concern are:

1) Fouls: K. Bailey was held out of much of the game due to foul trouble before fouling out; Nicholas was in foul trouble much of the night.

2) Awful shooting, especially from our key scorers: Nicholas was 2-10 (now 7-30 in the last 3 games); K. Bailey was 2-10; Carr was 1-5; Riley was 1-3. The team shot 10% on threes, and Rodgers made the only one.

The bright spot, again, was Thieleke. He played 37 minutes, 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 4 blocks. Rodgers also played well; I'd be happy if he could score 8 points every game.

by Guest Sun Nov 25, 2012 9:54 pm

Giving up 16 offensive rebounds was a problem; too often they were out of position in the paint, gave up a rebound and then fouled with a reach.

Korey Thieleke is really blossoming. It is a shame that he could not get on the floor his first two years. He doesn't play with the experience of a junior. Perhaps by January we'll see some big improvement.

by DoubleDipper Sun Nov 25, 2012 10:01 pm

Don’t know how it looked on TV, but I have to say the guys really put in a good effort this evening. The difference in my mind was rebounding and free throws....UNM has to be one of the better team in the nation at both, and that’s why the won.

UNM was much more aggressive than UP at the beginning of the second half, and the student body, located behind the UP basket, really got the entire crowd fired up too, creating a tough environment for a young team on the road.

UNM was just bigger inside and were quicker which created UP fouls as the Pilots reached out with their arms instead of getting their bodies in front of driving players or rebounders.

Bottom line, there were too few rebounds and free throws in comparison to UNM....but a good all around effort except for about five minutes after the half time break.

by DoubleDipper Sun Nov 25, 2012 10:09 pm

Finally got a Wi-Fi connection here in Albuquerque and was able to make the previous post and look at the stats. Yep, boards and free-throws were the difference.

UNM lives at the foul line, but there wasn't much the Pilots could do about it because of the size and speed of the Lobos......reach-in after reach-in, often times after the opposing player had blown by.

Korey and Kevin attempted to do the same on offense, and Kevin was fairly successful, but the Lobos were just packed too tightly inside to allow a great deal of success.

UNM is a top 35 team for a reason...they’re not as good as UNLV, but at least we’ll get UNLV at home.

by Guest Sun Nov 25, 2012 10:19 pm

Kudos to the guys for not losing composure after the Lobo surge to open the 2nd half. Down 3 quickly went to down 13. Pilots got down by 17 (maybe 19), but kept the final to 15 points.

by DoubleDipper Sun Nov 25, 2012 10:28 pm

I have to say the UNM fans are really a nice bunch, and complimentary of the Pilots players. I attended the game with group of season ticket holder friends who provided the ticket and accommodations, so maybe my opinion was skewed by that.

One of my friend’s daughters, who attended UP, wore her purple Pilots T-shirt with the traditional wheel logo, and made a point of cheering loudly for her Pilots. You would not believe the number of Lobo fans who had to be told the Pilots did NOT fly airplanes!

For some reason the student section loved to get after Kevin, and hounded him most of the night (until he fouled out), but it was good natured, and Kevin took it in a positive spirit.

I isolated on Rev on occasion and he seemed not too upset with his players, but would often do a little “teaching” up and down the bench when the Pilots would commit yet another foul or lose and offensive rebound.

And finally, tequila shooters seem to be the drink of the day...good thing I’m about to leave town...will be home for lunch at the Commons tomorrow.

Pilots @ New Mexico (Sunday, Nov. 25 @ 5:00)

Pilots @ New Mexico (Sunday, Nov. 25 @ 5:00)

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