Lobo Pack Basketball: Denver Preview

What:

New Mexico Lobos vs. Denver Pioneers

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:

The series is tied at 21-21. This is the first meeting since the 1970-71 season.

Breakdown:

The New Mexico Lobos will look to get back on track when they host the Denver Pioneers on Thursday night in The Pit.

The Lobos fell to 5-4 following a loss to New Mexico State on Monday night in Albuquerque.

The Pioneers are 3-7 on the season. Denver has played two other Mountain West foes this season. Losing to both Air Force and Wyoming.

What to expect from Denver:

The Pioneers will rely on KJ Hunt a ton, as they have all season.

Hunt averages 16.2 points per game, relying a ton on dribble drives and drawing fouls.

If the Lobos can keep Hunt out of the paint, it would go a long way to deciding the outcome.

The Pioneers also sport a stingy defense, the kind that the Lobos have struggled against this season.

In all but two of their contests this season, the Pioneers have forced 10 or more turnovers and in four of those they forced 14 or more. The Lobos will need to take care of the ball in this one.

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 last Tuesday to lead the way to victory. House had 21 in Monday’s contest.

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 will be looking for a bounce back game and this is the perfect opportunity to do it.

Denver does play a stingy defense, but I don’t think they can score enough to keep up with UNM.

I got Lobos-88 Denver-73.