Lobo Pack Basketball: New Mexico State Preview

What:

New Mexico Lobos vs. New Mexico State Aggies

When:

Monday, December 6th, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time

Where:

University Arena, The Pit, in Albuquerque, NM

Coverage:

The game will be streamed on The Mountain West Network. On the radio waves it will be carried on the UNM Sports Radio Network. Flagship station is 770 AM/96.3 FM in Albuquerque.

Series:

This is the 142nd time these two will have met on the court. UNM holds the series advatage with a record of 77-64.

Last Tuesday in Las Cruces UNM got a 101-94 victory

Breakdown:

The New Mexico Lobos will look to extend their winning streak to two as they play host to in-state rival New Mexico State on Monday night in The Pit.

The Lobos topped the Aggies in a thriller last Tuesday night in Las Cruces, winning 101-94.

The game was delayed due to a power outage, which knocked the ESPN stream off the air for the remainder of the contest.

What to expect from New Mexico State:

The Aggies were able to hold off UTEP on Friday night to get back into the win column following the loss to UNM.

Sir’Jabari Rice led the way for the Aggies in that contest with 19 points, and he also scored 21 points against New Mexico.

Rice will receive the most attention, but Lobo fans should still expect a decent output.

Tony Allen scored 31 points in the first meeting between these two. Allen was able to drive and draw a ton of fouls and that should be expected of him again in this one.

One player that the Lobos were able to take away from NMSU in the first matchup was Johnny McCants.

McCants played just 13 minutes against UNM in the first matchup before fouling out with just four points.

If the Lobos can control one of those three, they will have a shot to sweep the Aggies.

What to expect from the Lobos:

The Lobos will go as Jaelen House goes.

After struggling in Las Vegas, both games ending in Lobo losses, House bounced back with 31 points against New Mexico State on Tuesday to lead the way to victory.

Jamal Mashburn Jr. is a great addition to House’s scoring, and with both of them producing, it will be hard to stop UNM.

Final Thoughts and Prediction:

New Mexico loves to play at home, and against New Mexico State the arena should be rocking loud.

The Lobos played better than I thought they were going to in Las Cruces. We could see a repeat performance, or we could see the Aggies steal one like I figured they were going to last week.

For now, though, I am going to go with the Lobos at home. I got Lobos-84 Aggies-77.